The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-02-19
REPORT
| Of LAND
OFFICE
.OIaa Farmers Said
to Be Doing
Well.
The Preservation of.
Forests Is
Favored.
Land Commissioner Reports Upon
Conditions Of Lands in the
Territory of Hawaii.
Preservation
Forests Is
Favored.

Commissioner E. S. Boyd has sen
7 to Governor Dole his report upon tn
I lands of the Territory and his recon-
mendations as to their future TIL,
report is voIuminous, and contains
besides, a general resume of the worl
} of the land Office. an account of the
visit of Mr.. Boyd to Washington. and
his correspondence with the Secretary
of the Interior relative to land matters
and to the Kohala ditch bill.
Boyd's report shows that $3.50 acres
! were taken up In the Territory during
the year under the right to purchase
lease, while 1876 acres were settled by
homesteaders. Nearly all of this land
was in Hilo, Puma, Kona, Kau, Kohala
and Hamakua, and is an increase over
the previous year.
says:
| Most Of the lands taken up. as rep
resented In above table, were in Olaa.
The demand for homesteads in Olaa is
| surprising. and we are supplying the
demand as fast as the nature of the
| land and roads will permit. And 1t is
hoped that the remaining lots in this
section will be opened up at an early
day; in fact, 1t has been practically so
decided.
The advent of the Hilo Railway In
this region largely accounts for the
demand, where heretofore transporta-
tion was a considerable item and some
times an impossibility; which was
largely responsible for the failure of
former homesteaders, has now been
practically eliminated, and attendant to
the present progress shown by home |
steaders in Olaa.
have great faith that farming will |
be success in this and adjacent tracts. |
The demand for homesteads in the |
fact a marked increase of intending |
settlers desiring land Is quite evident.
Several tracts of land in Puma for
which surveys have been completed
during this period will be thrown open
for settlement. There is quite de-
mand for land in Puma; lack of desir-
able land has been a set back as it is
well known that Puma is practically
covered with Pahoehoe, and lots had
to be laid out In pockets and to suit the
to lay lots on Pahoehoe Is
simply waste of time and money.
In Hamakua and Kohala, So lots of
and remaining lots in Po-
hakea and Paauilo tract have been
opened up for settlement during a
month or SO ago. and quite a few lots
have been taken. up.
Settlement in these districts must {
be slow. solely on account q.
IF lack of transportation facilities, and !
also the impression left upon intending
y destroyed all developments in these &
districts during the last two years, as {
t depends entirely on rain for its mois- r
ure. Disastrous fires occurred in the =
5amakua forest from the middle of :
asst year to and including the early I
art of January this year, and unfor-
unately it originated in the very mid 4
lie of the drought; consequently. the
was very dry and infam- q
lable, nothing could hinder its prog
ess. though many attempts to check
were made, but such attempts were
OF successful until a good portion OF
ne forest was burned
Mr. Boyd refers also TO the damage :
one in the Hamakua district through =
,rest fires. He says that in Kona land
have decreased through
.ck of new surveys. There has been
tile land taken up on Maui. which is
,counted for the by the Commissioner
v lack of roads. Mr.. Boyd says that :
lie opening of the Hauula tract on =. -
ahu was a success, and also highly
,mmends the Wahiawa farmers.
Kauai lands are mostly under lease.
nd Mr. Boyd thinks it a matter OF
that the land in Waioli r
Hanalei has not been taken up, '"
.ough opened. The right to purchase Il