The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-06-23
Of
TERRITORY
Ant May Be Sent Here
TO Kill Boil
WeeviI.

The meeting of the Board of Agricul
ture and Forestry yesterday Afternoon
was devoted largely to discussion o
the report of Forester Hosmer on The
proposed reservation OF North Kons
lands on the slopes of Mt. Hualalai fol
forest purposes. and the recommends
ton was finally made to Governor Car
ter that the forester's recommendation
that portions be reserved for this pur-
pose and portions opened to homestead
ing, be adopted.
Another development of the meeting
which was attended by Messrs. Gifard
| Holloway and Brown, was the propose ed
| introduction here of an ant native to
| Guatemala which is said to prey upon
the cotton Dol weevil. Mr. Gifard adj
vanced the suggestion that it might be
found TO be an enemy to the leaf hop
per, and in that case would prove in
valuable to the agricultural interests OF
| the islands. 1t is known scientifically as
the Grannis. Large tracts of Guatemala
cotton lands where the ant has been
| found have been observed to be free from
denudation by the weevil. Its introduc-
ton from Guatemala into Texas is being
watched with interest. Mr.. Kirka1dy of
the Bureau of Agriculture has written
to Washington asking that specimens be
sent here that he may experiment with
them in the insectorv.
Superintendent of Forestry Hosmer's
report on the proposed forest reserve
tracts in North Kona was read as fol-
lows:
I submit herewith my report and rec
concentrations in the matter of the land
of Honuaula, North Kona, Hawaii, re-
ferred to me by your committee, on
March End.
The present lease of this land, which
expires on July 10th next, is held by Mr..
J. A. Mcguire, as grazing land. On
July 29th, 1903, the land was, at Mr..
Maguire'S request, put up at auction to
be released, and was knocked down
to Messrs. J. G. Henriques and Frank
Comes, residents of Kona. Mr.. Comes
Henriques is also in the livery bust
ness.
Although the lease was auctioned off
to them, final execution of the papers
was delayed because the wording of the
lease, together with the idea that the
land should be held as a forest reserve,
caused the Commissioner of Public
Lands to desire to refer the matter to
this Board. No money was paid down,
as it was not the custom at that time
to require a deposit.
On June 18th, in company with Mr..
J. A. Mcguire, who is the local consult
ing forester: Mr.. Comes and Mr.. Hen
riques I visited the land at Honuaula
and made a careful examination of it.
The tract lies on the southwest slope
of HualaIai. It's lower portion was laid
out in 1899 as a homestead tract. Be
tween this and the lot under cOnsid-
Grafton is a strip of open forest some
what over half a mile in width. The
portion leased lies as a belt of Irregular
shape along the mountain, averaging
about one mile in width, but at its
eastern end running up in a point to
the west peak of Mt. Hualalai. The
lower boundary is approximately 1900
feet in elevation. The upper line vary
ing between 5000 and 5000 feet, except
where the land runs up to the west
peak which is over 5000 feet. The area
is 3044 acres.
The upper portion of this block, above
an elevation of about 5000 feet, is open
grazing land, save for the scattering
trees of mamani, a species not in
juriously affected by grazing. The low
er side of the grazing land is bordered
IDxy 7-4 ~
ture with ohia lehua, alii, naio and
other scattering trees. The cattle are
working in this forest and gradually
killing out the underground. Below
this is a belt of large koa trees, MAX
ing nearly pure stand. This belt ex-
tends all along the slope of Mt. Huala-
lai, varying in width from about one
half mile to one mile or more, and COW
ering the slope between approximately
the contour lines of 4r500 and $500 feet
The trees are of large size ard for the
most part in healthy condition. In GER
tain places there are young trees, but
the majority are mature, and, did a
market exist might we'll be cut and
utilized.
Below the belt of large koa is an open
forest of ohia, opiko, kanawao and
some others, which with a dense fern
growth covers the remainder of the
lot under question.
A similar forest covers the home
stead tract, except that on the lower
tier of lots, the ieie vine makes dense
| tangle. Since the homestead tract was
surveyed cattle have worked their way
in through the transit lines and are do
| ing considerable damage to the forest
underground. The lower line of the
| homestead tract is at an elevation of
between 2300 and $500 feet.
1t will thus be seen that good share
of the land covered by the lease and by
the homestead tract is in forest. In
my judgment the upper portion of the
land suitable for grazing might be used
for that purpose. and. were it found
advisable to build a road and open the
lower portion of the homestead tract 10
settlers. that part of the land might
be used successfully for that purpose