The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-06-17
An ISLAND
RESOURCE
OlOna Fiber Gets
An Official
Report.

~ cultural Experiment station. has
received from DR. n. Russel Of Noun
tain View, Hawaii. an interesting
sketch Of the olona fibre, its growth,
characteristics ana manufacture into
fish nets
The article, with samples Of the fibre.
is TO be forwarded to the Washington
Department of Agriculture for ncien-
tiflo analysis, and for Information In
regard to a suitable mechanical cxtrac-
tor. which DIR. Russell says is needed
before the cultivation OF the fibre can
become % success financially in Ha-
wall.
The following IL the article furnished
by DIR. Russel, which Will be forwarded
to Washington:
OLONA FIBRE.
Botany-Oiona is a native Hawaiian
name Of a single botanical Hawaiian
species Of plant OF the Urtioaceae fam
lily. In Hillebrand's Flora OF the Ha-
waiian Islands," we find page +l5) the
following quotation from Gaud. Bot.
Voy. Bon. tab. "a. ID. c. Prod. l6. Sect.
], PIP. 1878:
'"Touchardia iatifolia. A shrub. As
II. high, with viscid juice, sparingly
dividing into stout branches, the
youngest hispide but soon glabrate.
Leaves en- petioIes of 3-s'. ovate, SICK
5-9, acute or acuminate, obtusely Gre
nate, rounded at the base. chartaceous.
dark green on both faces and glabrous,
excepting a few hairlets on the nerves.
tripli-nerved. the lateral nerves not
reaching the middle of the margin.
PENN nerved higher up. with rectan-
gular areOles. Supules q, acute.
Glomerules of flowers generally arrang-
ed in repeatedly forking cymes. with
one branch suppressed and the middle
glomerule sessile. The male cymes
longer $50 and broader $50 than
the female which are also more crowd
ed. Male gIomerules 6-y in diameter
Perigone ~ to 2", the lanceolate Seq
.nents hooded and obtuse or tubercu-
late below the apex. Stamens shortly
excerted, anthers large, white. Rudi-
ment of pistil gabrous Fem. glomer-
ules 4-5". Perigone Il, orange colored
when mature. style as long as the
achene.-Wedd. Monogr. Ort., D. 142.
tab. 3. Wawra in Flora, 1874. p. 541."
This quotation is accompanied with
the following fOOt-note by Hillebrand:
In deep ravines on all islands, but by
no means common. 1t Is the "Olona'
of The natives, which yields a fibre
highly priced for tenacity and durabil-
ity, and is chiefly employed for making
fishing nets. The species. as a
rule, Is 1ioecious"
HistSry-SOme go years ago about
lvee natives were living on the margin
Of the virgin forest and pahoe-hoe
rock along the trail connecting Hilo
town with the crater of kilauea, Island
Of Hawaii, in spot corresponding to
the present 22-mie point of the Vol
cano road. Making of KAPPA" tnative
cloth) out of "hamake" bark Pipturus
albdus, Urticaceae), OF Olona fibre for
fishing nets ont of Touchardia latifolia,
and capturing "O-U" birds for the sake
OF the few precious yellow feathers un-
der the wings, OF which luxurious royal
garments were manufactured-thos
we're the industries on which they
lived.
For reasons common to all the ma
tive population Of the Islands. namely.
the introduction of new germs of dis
ease, syphilis, leprosy, tuberculosis,
smallpox etc, this settlement gradual
ly dwindled away and in 1862 the few
surviving members migrated to other
localities. AT present only patches of
wild bananas, taro and heaps of stones
scattered in the forest indicate the
places of former habitation and indus
try. j have heard, however that as
late as the seventies Kalakaua still
levied tax in Olona fibre from the
natives Of Puma and Olaa districts,
which fibre he sold at high prices To
Swiss Alpine clubs, who valued it for
its light weight and great strength.
Conditions of Growth-Touchardia
grows abundantly in Olaa forests, pre-
septing a kind of a natural plantation.
1t very successfully holds its own in
competition with ferns and other ele-
ments of the underground, in the shade
of "Ohia" trees tMetr9sideros polymor-
pha). The deep shade, very porous
soil, considerable moisture with a year
~ rainfall of $50 inches, pretty evenly
distributed, are the natural conditions.
by removing some of the underground,
scattering the seed, and probably by
planting cuttings, the number of plants
on the same area Gould be greatly in
creased with but very small expense
since plants of medium age (about IS
months old supply the best fibre, ma
tives, in gathering, used to turn down
the elder ones with the foot. laying the
whole plant on the ground to force new
shoots and sprouts.
Manufactured was familiar with the
plant and it's properties for years, but
did not pay any further attention to
it as a possible object of industry, for
the reason that to all appearances the
same difficulties in mechanical eXtrac-
ton of fibre will be met as in the case
of Rance, for which no satisfactory
machine has been found so far. Re
Gently my interest in the matter was
again aroused by Mr.. Jared G. Smith
of the Hawaii Experiment Station.
Considering that Touchardia seems to
he free from resinous matter, upon his
suggestion / decided to examine the
subject more in detail. For this pur-
pose an old native, born and raised in
the settlement above mentioned, was
interviewed. Together with him pro-
ceeded into the forest along % miles
side trail. In my presence he picked
the plants, stripped them OF the bark,
and with his own olden tools manufsc-
tured the sample Of fibre, which | beg
to convey for examination as exhibit
Nj.
My object was to ascertain exactly:
l. What kind OF plants he selects 2.
To see the primitive method of manu-
facture with the idea that this method
might furnish some suggestions for the
construction Of the machine.
We hardly made a few dozen steps
in the woods along 22 mile trail when
rich harvest OF Touchardia was