proved to be salable in large quantities at a sufficiently high price 

 to make the industry profitable. A certain amount of crude pia 

 starch is consumed ni the local market ; shipments have also been 

 occasionally made to San Francisco and New York. As stated 

 above, the cotton spinning industry is the chief consumer of 

 starch. Cotton threads must be treated with a "size," made from 

 starch or some other cheap material of similar properties, before 

 the threads can be woven. The function of the size is to fasten 

 down the loose ends of the cotton fibers so as to niake the thread 

 of uniform smoothness. Manufacturers of cotton goods use d 

 formula requiring starch of a certain density and chemical reac- 

 tion. Some manufacturers use only alkali starch, others require 

 acid starch. The alkalinity or the acidity of the starch depends 

 on whether alkalis or acids have been used in the l)leachin2: and 

 purifying processes. Starches prepared by the crude Oriental or 

 Chinese methods lack uniformity and are neither markedly acid 

 nor alkaline, so that unless the product is offered in large enough 

 amount so that it will pay the manufacturer of cotton goods to 

 adapt his formulas to starch of this neutral character, the crude 

 starch prepared in this way must be sold at less than the cus- 

 tomary market prices. In other words, products must conform 

 to market standards if they are to command the market price. If 

 Hawaii can produce an alkali or an acid starch comparable in 

 quality with the starches produced in other countries the market 

 should be unlimited. 



JARED G. SMITH. 



THIRD REPORT OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 

 OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY OF THE 

 TERRITORY OF HAWAII, FOR THE YEAR ENDING 

 DECEMBER 31, ipo6. 



The above report has recently been issued and has been widely 

 distributed throughout the Terntorv. It contains a comprehen- 

 sive account of the various divisions of the board for last year. 



DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 



The personnel of this division has been substantiallv the sairie as 

 last year, Mr. Ralph S. Hosm.er continuing as suDerintendent. 

 During the summer Mr. C. S. Tudd of the School of Forestry at 

 Yale University was associated with this division, his work cen- 

 tering at Lihue, Kauai. 



Seven new forest reserves have been established during the 

 year, containing an area of upwards a hundred and twenty-five 

 thousand acres. The Territory now possesses twelve reserves of 

 a total area of over a third of a million acres. Upon the sug- 

 gestion of the SuDerintendent of Forestrv, the Commissioners 

 have included in the recommendation for appropriations a sum 



