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ment, there will remain the need for an adequate and assured 

 supply of water for irrigation. 



The object of the proposed Kealia Forest Reserve is by pro- 

 tecting the forest on the mountain slopes and in the upper valleys of 

 the watershed, to assist in maintaining the present desirable con- 

 ditions of regular flow in the streams and the retention of at 

 least a part of the storm water. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



For the most part the area within the boundary of the reserve 

 is of such rugged and broken topography that its use for any- 

 thing but forest is out of the question. And the few places within 

 the boundary where there are flats, as for example the area just 

 within the forest line on the land of Kamalomaloo, are not suited 

 for agriculture. On this particular plot the soil is cold and sour, 

 making it unfit even for grazing land. This area is chiefly of 

 value as containing several reservoir sites, one of which has been 

 purchased by the plantation and developed by the erection of a 

 substantial dam. 



On this and the few other similar areas and on the bare ridges 

 on the land of Kealia, certain kinds of trees might however be 

 grown, from which, it is believed, better returns could be got 

 than from any other use to which these areas could be put. The 

 afforestation of such places would in time provide a source of 

 wood for various purposes, including fuel, a need that will be 

 strongly felt with a growing population on the lands below. The 

 exclusion from the reserve of all land rightly to be classed as 

 agricultural has been kept constantly in mind in drawing the 

 boundary, consequently the reserve includes only forest land. 



THE FOREST. 



The forest in the Kealia Reserve is of the type common on 

 the lower mountains of the Territory — a dense stand in which 

 Koa (Acacia Koa) and Ohia Lehua (Metrosidcros polyniorpha) 

 predominate, in mixture with a considerable number of other 

 species. Under the canopy of the trees are various vines, creep- 

 ers and other undergrowth, while the forest floor itself is covered 

 with a dense mat of brakes, ferns and mosses, the whole so inter- 

 woven as to be almost impenetrable, except as one cuts his way 



