The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-27

wonderful diversity in temperature,
rainfall, elevation and barometric pres
sure. The soil, however, is quite uni
form, derived from the basaltic lava,
with narrow band of coral limestone
encircling the islands on the coast,
These soils are extremely porous, and
the rainfall passes quickly into them,
sinking into the artesian reservoirs
made possible by the eneircling belt Of
coral, which furnish the potable and
) irrigating waters of the islands. &C.
ologically speaking, the islands are
therefore, very young, with a very linn
tied fauna and flora.
CHARACTER OF THE SOIL.
1.-THE recent geological origin of the
islands has already been mentioned.
One would naturally expect, therefore,
to find the soils primitive in character
and more nearly of the composition of
the volcanic rocks from which they
came than soils of similar origin in
older countries. Such has been found
to be the case, as has been portrayed
in Lavas and Soils by DR.. Walter
Maxwell, former director of the Ha-
waiian experiment station, now of
Queensland.
HE has shown that the soils of the
islands may be geologically classified as
dark red soils, which have been form
ed from normal lavas by simple wealth
ering in a climate of great heat and
dryness and yellow and light red soils,
which are derived from lavas which
suffer great alteration at the time of,
or soon after, emission, under the ac-
ton of the steam sulphurous vapors
resident within the lavas at the time
of eruption. Through the action Of
these imprisoned agents these favas
have undergone such a radical altera-
ton, both in chemical composition and
color, as to mislead a scientist as to
their origin were it not for the presence
of the living volcanoes on the island
of Hawaii which permits of special
study along these lines. DR.. Maxwell
has shown that lateral or 'tufa cones
exist all over the islands, and the Ia
vas therefrom have given soils widely
distributed all over the islands. These
soils are inferior in fertility to the
dark red soils. Some of them yield
well when first brought under cultiva-
don. but depreciate rapidly in produc-
tivity in a few years, requiring careful
and special treatment for maintenance
or restoration of fertility. There are
other large areas of these soils which
are not productive, due to the presence
of ferrous sulphate, an active poison
to plant life. These can, by proper
physical and chemical amendments, be
made productive.
Resides the above which are found in
stu, there are considerable areas of sed-
imentary soils. formed by denudalon
and deposition mainly on the leeWard
sides of the islands and in sections OF
small rainfall. The coral reefs which be-
eirt the island have served as shelves
to catch the deposition produced py
falling rains in the mountain regions.
These sedimentary deposits have COW
cred the coral reefs from one TO thirty
feet deep, and form today the most
fertile soils of the islands, and are useo
mainly by the sugar planters, though
the details of the small valleys next to
the ocean are cultivated in rice by the
Chinese.
EXCELLENT SUGAR LANDS.
Large areas. marked by a predomin-
ance of these soils show that they have
heen derived from normal lavas which
have undergone slow decomposition In
a hot climate with small rainfall.
They are strong, deep soils. colored IN
tensely with iron and darkened by an
incorporation of vegetable matter. They
closely resemble pulverized bricks,
darkened by an admixture with vege-
table mold or humus. They are uni
fornnlv fertile soils and are everywhere
highly esteemed as excellent sugar
lands.
I "Tbe soils of the islands are marked
chemically by a low content OF silica,
the larger percentage of which is SOL
uble. and by the presence OF a large
nroportion of basic elements, against an
enormous preponderance of acidic con-
stituents in American soils. The Ha-
waiian soils are geologically recent
and have not yet undergone the cnange
of structural composition and type
which cbaracterizes the old and per-
hans permanent soils of Ameria-
/ "rhe dark red soils and the sedinen-
+orv soils are credited with an aver
age production of about five tons OF
sugar per acre, while the yellow and
light red soils give only little over
three tons. but the latter, which grows
the least cane, produces the best quail
ity of Juice.
THE coffee soils. found at elevations