The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-11-25

man furnished it by the Bureau of
Forestry; who will take charge of i'm
portant projects for the betterment of
the islands forests. The man appoint
ed will have the responsibilities first of
determining the location and the boun-
daries of a system of forest reserves,
and later of experimenting a great
deal Of forest planting both on public
and private lands.
| The forest conditions of the islands
are unlike any that prevail in this
| country. Mr.. William L. Hall OF the
! Bureau of Forestry, who has just re-
turned from a two months examina-
! ton Of the islands, reports peculiar and
I interesting problems which forestry
must solve there. The islands contain
scarcely any forests capable of yield
| ing timber of value for lumber. Near
| ly all the lumber used for building pur-
poses comes from the Pacific Coast.
| But there are several hundred thou
sand acres of forest land of the great
est value for protective purposes. In
deed, so great is the Importance of
| these forests that on their preserva-
ton depends the existence of the sugar
Industry, and that is equivalent to say
ing the continued prosperity of the
| islands The sugar exports of the
last fiscal year amounted to $25. 900, 600.
and sugar is practically the only ex-
port. The raising of sugar requires
an enormous amount Of water, nearly
all of which must be supplied by irri-
cation, the water being carried in
!flumes and bitches from the wet noun
famous parts of the islands to the dry
plains on which the sugar cane is
grown. The rainfall of the islands
is nearly all confined to the northeast
and east mountain slopes, where it is
tremendously heavy, some years more
than zoo inches. On the other side of
the divide, and in the plains beyond,
where the sugar cane grows, there may
be no more than Is inches of rain a
lyear.
The forests are largely confined to
the rainy side of the mountains, and
are necessary as protective cover to
keep the ground from washing from
the slopes and the rain from rushing
back too rapidly to the sea. The
presence of the forest cover since it
/ makes the stream flow regular, pre-
venting both floods and periods of low
stream flow, is indispensable to the
success of irrigating projects. The
value of this forest, strangely enough,
consists not so much in the trees it
| contains-for they are frequently low,
crooked, and sparsely scattered-as
in the impenetrable mass of under
growth beneath them. This under
growth, composed of vines, ferns, and
moses, is of so dense character that
it shades the ground absolutely and
| hnJ6S tay- t. to-
ever, exceedingly delicate end easily
destroyed. Let cattle into such a for
est and they viii speedily eat or tram
pie down the underground till the bare
ground is exposed. The soil then rap
idly dries out and becomes hard. and
the trees soon die. Grasses. insects,
and wind usually hasten the destruc-
1 ton. Cattle and goats have ravaged
the Hawaiian forests without hin
drance for many years and have work
ed further each year into the heart of
the dense tropical growth.
The Hawaiian public lands consist of
/ 1,772S40 acres. All of these lands.
/ which are in forest, and many forest
areas privately owned which the Gov
eminent can gain possession of by ex-
1 change, win be put into forest re-
serves, cleared of cattle and goats,
fenced, and preserved. Some compen-
sation must also be made for the great
areas of forest already destroyed 1t
will be part Of the work of the forester
to plant to valuable trees large areas
OF this denuded land upon which for
ests are of most vital Importance to
the agricultural interests. Mr.. Hall.
who carefully examined the climatic
conditions. believes that species of the
Pacific Coast, such as redwood and red
fir, will do well in most places at the
higher elevations of the islands. An
lexample Of how foreign species NAV
succeed in Hawaii is furnished by the
mesquite OF our own southwest. which
was introduced into the islands some
so wears ago and now covers about
100000 acres. furnishing quantities of
valuable fuel. It is not called mes
quite in Hawaii, however. but goes by
the name of algaroba.