The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-09-11
WHY TREES
ARE EXPIRING
A Bad Situation Which Is
Not Without Some
Remedy.

A. B. Leckenby believes that the
agricultural problems of Hawaii may
be solved on single acre, under wire
gauze, and he means to have try at
it, if the least encouragement is offer
ed by the people of Oahu.
Leckenby has talked with Governor
Frear, who believes that the Territory
should endeavor to keep the aggres-
sively active agricultural scientist
with us. James p. Wilder and other
prominent citizens are enthusiastic
supporters of the acre-under- screen wire
idea and have offered their hearty CO.
operation. Leckenby offers to buy an
acre of land at Kaimuki and present If
to anyone who will faithfully try the
experiment, or, if no one will come for
ward, he will himself take charge until
the affair is a success, if others will
cooperate with him after the first mi.
tial expense of the land, which he him
self will assume. He would prefer,
however, to make a present of the land
and have Others do the experimenting.
Among the things Leckenby expects
to demonstrate on his bug, bird and
mOngoose- proof acre is that, by the
mere resumption of conditions as they
were before the various foreign pests
were introduced, Hawaii can become
the place ideal for the small farmer.
He is certain that he can clear for the
cause several thousand dollars per an
mum on pestproof acre, and he has
already induced others to send to the
Coast for wire netting for their own
NJ on lon1 Hol.
he can also demonstrate on his pro-
tected acre that it is possible to rid
Hawaii of her imported pests Talking
with James P. Wilder a few days ago,
he said that he would first of all in
troduce the woodpecker, for even trees
will be grown under wire game on the
acre. Wilder declared
that the woodpecker would never breed
in Hawaii, on account of the minah |
bird, that pecks at the eggs of all birds |
making their nests in holes in the |
trees. EThen the minah bird must !
go, said Leekenby. "America would .
be a howling desert were it not for |
our insect-destroying birds. I notice |
that the borer is gaining the upper
hand with you; the woodpecker keeps
him within bounds on the mainland
have you nothing to take his place
here?''
"No,' was the reply of the man
who has roamed the forests of the Ha.
yaiian Islands from bovhood up.
Nothing. We had native bird that
lid the work, but the minah has driven
lim out, and our forests are dying. In
another hundred years we bid fair tol
,e a howIing wilderness of red dust.
10 up Tantalus, pull up any tree or
shrub, and you find white fungus on
very root. Our koa is making a
strong fight, but it is doomed The
ungus weakens the root. the sap is
etarded, once it stops flowing in a
imb the borer makes his home there,
md the next year that limb falls to
be ground. This is going on every
where in these Islands. Let us have ,
n acre free from imported pests,
where conditions may be studied and
'erhaps a solution may be discovered
nd way out of our difficulties point {
d out -
Bats, t0ads. wOOdpeckers and other .
insect destroying birds and beasts viii
e protected under the wire gauze-
he mesh will be too fine to admit even {
he japanese beetle or the melon fly. {
e that muskmelons and many table /
ruits may be grown that are now rare
ights in our markets. In one sec
ion the toad viii fight it out with /
ONE destroying insect now common in I
laval. in another the bat will demon {
trate his usefulness, and the wood I
ecker will also be given an opportu t
Continued on Page Four.) f