REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. CV 



pelag-o. A disease locally known as black rot has for ten or more years 

 been seriously depreciating the crop. This, as has been determined 

 by the station authorities, is due to a soil fungus, and experiments are 

 being undertaken to combat it. In the field investigations 4.5 varieties 

 of potatoes were grown under similar conditions, and marked differ- 

 ences were noted in the susceptibility of the varieties to disease. This 

 work is to be followed up in the hope that some sorts may be found 

 which are nearly or quite resistant to disease. 



Investigations were begun on the diseases of poultry, and a bulletin 

 was issued in which suggestions were given for the care of fowls and 

 treatment of the diseases to which they are especially subject, and as 

 a result of which poultry and eggs are excessively expensive in the 

 Hawaiian markets. 



Attention has also been given to liber plants, mangoes, the castor 

 bean, pineapples, peppers, and rubber and cork oak trees, and other 

 plants believed worthy of investigation and development. A study 

 has also been made regarding the use of pumps for irrigation purposes 

 in the Hawaiian Islands, where the pumping of water for this purpose 

 has in all probabilit}^ reached its highest development. Members of 

 the station staff hav^e visited other islands of the group and an attempt 

 has been made to get into touch with all the agricultural communities. 

 Farmers' institutes are being organized under the auspices of the sta- 

 tion. Bulletins on chickens and their diseases and on.taro have been 

 prepared and others are in course of preparation. It is clear that there 

 is a wide field for agricultural investigations in this Territory, Owing 

 to local conditions of soil, temperature, rainfall, and other natural 

 conditions, the station will be obliged to do much work in different 

 localities. 



The presence of enormous numbers of destructive insects is one of 

 the chief obstacles to agriculture in Hawaii. The land areas are small 

 and the uniformity of seasonal temperatures presents no check to the 

 development of insects which may have been introduced from conti- 

 nental regions. As a result the insects speedily lose their distinctive 

 habits. Many of the introduced species no longer have a definite life 

 period, but breed at all seasons and are practically in continuous exist- 

 ence throughout the 3' ear, swarm following swarm, with no intervening 

 period when the land is free from their ravages. 



There are a number of serious fungous diseases of plants which require 

 investigation, both because of the local losses caused by them and on 

 account of the possibility of their being carried to other parts of the 

 islands. The work on the taro rot and the Fusarium disease of the 

 potato will need to be continued for several years. 



There are many problems of both scientific and practical interest 

 which require the services of a chemist. Soil and water analyses, the 

 study of the role of mineral nutrients in plants and soils, the composi- 



