246 

 IMPROVING HAWAIIAN PASTURES. 



By G. C. Munro. . ^ 



In Auo^iist, T899. when I took over the management of the 

 Molokai Ranch, there was evident necessity for improvement in 

 the pastures on the extent of semi-arid and partially denuded 

 land on the estate. The various boards of directors, under whom 

 I served', aided and encouraged me in every way in the work of 

 introducing and experimenting with foreign grasses and forage 

 plants to assist in this object. 



It has therefore been my privilege to make some of the first 

 growing trials here and to have made the first practical demon- 

 stration of some grasses which I feel sure will eventually revo- 

 lutionize the stock raising industry of the Islands. 



The plan followed in the first trials w'as this, to procure seed 

 in small quantities of any grasses that might seej^ suitable. A 

 small amount of each was sowed in the garden and tended, the 

 rest being mixed and sown broadcast over as great an area and 

 under as many varying conditions of locality and soil as possible. 

 The garden plots were tested for drouc:ht-resisting oualities, and 

 were a guide to the identification of the grasses in the onen. The 

 broadcast sowing was a test for self-spreading and general 

 adaptability to local conditions, for it is necessarv for a good 

 range grass, especiallv in drv country, that when established it 

 will seed quickly and plentifullv and spread without much arti- 

 ficial help. When once a grass showed itself worthv of propaga- 

 tion, and' was found to thrive in the open, seed was bought m 

 larger quantities, and in some cases land was plowed and pre- 

 pared for the seed. 



In carrying out the initial experiments in this way the expense 

 was very light, though there was a considerable amount of clerical 

 and inspection work necessarv. 



That the improving and maintaining of the pastures is one of 

 the main points in stockraising is undoubted, and worthv of 

 much more attention and expenditure than is at present given 

 it here. Thousanls of acres of what is now almost useleses land 

 could be brought into use, and a rotation of useful feed crops 

 could be grown on resting cane land* which would m.ore quickly 

 bring back those constituents of which the cane has deprived it of 

 than is achieved by weeds which now accomplish this object. The 

 expenditure in fertilizers would also be reduced. 



A system of dry farming is drawing much attention at present 

 and gives wonderful results in dry country. But few countries 

 can depend for any lengthened time on natural pastures, it being 

 found profitable eventually to improve on natural conditions, to 

 grow better grasses, to cure hav and ensilage for use in seasons 

 and periods of scarcity, and also to grow fodder catch-crops. 



