The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-02-14
FORESTS OF
HAWAII mel

. NNI A. NNN' NNNNH
I uOu Maui. where tho Ur ditch is. you
Will nnd ON the nauka .lIs ths fgrrsi "a
jungle whereas bslow BE- III clear end
perfectly open. Tho uud.rEfuwtl disnp-
pears and The heavy lil0 praFs comes in
aud no seeds can then reach through aud
terminate. There are some pretty park
I like places but these do not conserve The
water as the ground dries up.
I Take the Islands az a whole, and % IRE
are few localities whore there are nHtur-
. "a reservoir sites, and tho water IL vast
7 cd. / think tho planters are all alive 20
! the effects which the forests have over
/ the stream flow. The forest. actually IN
crease the rainfall The temperature IN
the forest Is lower than in the Surround
! ing country. and when clouds come there
not a drop VIII fan. but when they strike
the mountains where the timber L., the
rain comes down. In places where the
mountains are bare the rain does not
come. That has been proven. The plant
crs feel the need Of forests, but IL docs
not appear to me they have seen the
need at headwaters. Those who are ac-
qualnted with the island Of Hawaii know
that as you come from l1amakua to
Waimea and down through Pahala, most
OF the slopes cannot be used for sugar
or grazing. The forests, II preserved
There, will increase the rainfall
Coming around to Hilo. YOU cross
stream after stream TO the government
road. These streams are vitality import.
ant to the plantations In fluming their
cane, as it Is too rough to construct rail-
roads. 1t Is ten times more important TO
preserve the forests at the headwaters
than below. If the forests Were stripped
# would be hard to get the water. The
water would sink at the headwaters and
flow under through the strata and could
only be obtained by tuunelling and shaft
ing.
II would suggest that the planters seq
| regate those lands which are adjacent
and along the headwaters of the streams.
That Is the principal thing to do. Il is
not only a question OF segregating these
! lands, but also a question of fencing. At
Pahala they have 81 miles of fencing ana
have had It there for five years; before
| the fencing was up you could ride ali
/ through the forests after bullocks, pat
now there Is no trail, and you can only
get through by using a cane knife.
THE rapidity Of deuudty and the rap
! idity Of growth in the Islands has sur
prised me. This is not a question of
leaving forests for posterity to enjoy.
IT Is "a question OF now. ! think the cat
! tie business ought to be run with little
more system. When | have asked where
. cattle were, ] have been told, Up
mauka in the forests There the cattle
! 20 to escape the heat ana hurn-hes and
] to obtain the moisture. That Is what Is
. driving the forests back ana II means
/ the forests viii be destroyed by cattle
and sheep. On the ranches where the
/ cattle are being handled In paddocks lit
tie damage Is being done.
Putting trees alongside the plantations
is an excellent thing, especially on oahu
along the Waianae ana Koolau ranges.
1t is surprising to see what the forests
will do when fenced of. Back Of EVA,
! where the country has been enclosed,
young koa trees are coming up. Mr..
Baldwin on Maui has found by blowing
that hundreds Of young koa trees have
come up which shows that the seed Will
hold Its terminating power for a period
CT ten years.
Most of the government lands are UNI
der long leases, so the government can
not do much at present There are gov
eminent grounds which the Territorial
government, ! suppose, could set aside
as forest preserves, but as the planter.
and grazers have the lands, II rests with
them very largely as to what they will
do. If the planters and managers viii
get together and each say L will fence
of this land and that and so on. the
forests will be protected, and you will
have n good water supply. on Maui
was delighted to find the forests in good
condition. but even there an enormous
amount of damage is being done. The
vital points in Hawaii lie between filC
and lamakua. My idea Is that th'
planters should get together and ask
which are the forests on the streams anC
which those at the headwatcrs and theI
set these aside and preserve them. o.
Molokai the forests are so far gone tina
little can be done except by planting
; they are almost extinct.
a ION Oahu, Honolulu and other plant1
tons, they must do something to protec
e the forests. They must know that tn
. arteslan water they are getting Is waite
= that is falling on the mountains, an,
: coming through the strata, and If tn
forests are destroyed, they will surel!
feel its effects on their water supply.
@ Washington would be glad to do any
= thing 1t can TO help. | am going to Ma
A Mia, and ! propose to send YOU som
70 timber trees to Clothe the upper slope
= OF your mountains. / would like TO rec
= ommend you TO try Philippine pines. IN
o trouble with your present forests is tina
d the seeds are so heavy they fall clos
to the trees, and are suppressed by n
! shade. This causes the forests to sprea
but slowly. The pine has been used yer
successfully in Switzerland and Franc,
and in the States. Within five years 4
South Dakota, in a preserve, they oh
y tanned coco young plants to the acre
u The seeds of the pine scatter over tn
: land. and do not remain near the tree
q from which they fall"
Q Governor Dole, at this point. inquire
), whether, in Mr.. Grfiith's examination
of the timber trees, he thought tina
: there was a possibility OF introducin
foreign trees as n commercial PROPOSE
: ton, as well as TO conserve the waite
y supply. Mr.. Griffith said he had though
! of that in conjunction with the price {
= cordwood, which people paid here-Sl2 I
i Sli a cord. lie suggested that IL the Tel
y ritOrial government raised algaroba tire,
10 on government lands it would serve
&c double purpose, one of which was 10 II
III crease the revenues. lie stated furth.
ot that the government should keep veI
.! tight control over the opening up of q
W forests. Fencing was expensive, and
- there were great pine forests, fence pos
i" would be obtained at much less prit
than at present.
Us vote of thanks was rendered to N