57 



flesh so that he has become probably the most susceptible animal 

 to disease that the veterinarian has to deal with. Consequently, 

 the greatest care must be exercised in the manag-ement of swine- 

 raising estaljlishments if loss from disease is to be controlled. 



RECLAIMING GRASSLAND. 



By C. S. JuDD, 

 Superintendent of Forestry. 



One of the problems which confronts the Division of Forestry 

 in the administration of the forest reserves of the Territory of 

 Hawaii is the contest with Hilo grass (Paspalum conjugatum). 

 Where the native Hawaiian forest has been denuded by cattle 

 depredations or by fire, an invasion of this vigorously growing 

 introduced grass is almost sure to follow especially where there 

 is a fair amount of moisture. As the few remaining trees grad- 

 ually die and disappear this grass covers the ground with a solid 

 mat, often two feet high, so that naturally-sown tree seed has no 

 chance for germination and large areas of former forest land are 

 in consequence converted to permanent grassland. The Hilo 

 grass cover is not nearly as satisfactory for the purpose of con- 

 serving the runofif as the association of plants of the indigenous 

 forest represented by trees, vines, ferns, bushes, and mosses. It 

 is desirable, therefore, to find some means whereby Hilo grass 

 may be eliminated and grassland areas turned back again into 

 forest. 



For this reason the experiment described in the following pages 

 was initated on March 17, 1921, in the Honolulu Watershed 

 Forest Reseve, in the effort to determine whether areas covered 

 by Hilo grass could be reclaimed by shading out the grass through 

 the establishment of a stand of trees and having them serve as a 

 nurse crop for other trees. The . species used was haole koa 

 {Leucaena glauea), which is called ipil-ipil in the Philippines. 



The idea is not original but was obtained from forest practice 

 in the Philippine Islands where it has been used with success in 

 reclaiming grassland. There over 40 per cent of the total land 

 area of the islands is covered, to the exclusion of almost all other 

 forms of vegetation, with cogon grass [Iniperata exaltata) which 

 is useless for grazing, is a fire menace, destroys the productivity 

 of the soil in which it grows and, worst of all, is the breeding 

 place of the locusts which yearly swarm over the islands and 

 damage crops to such an extent that the government is compelled 

 to spend great sums of money in trying to exterminate them. 

 This tree has been found to kill out cogon grass within two 

 years. No preparation is necessary other than burning the cogon 

 just before the rainy season and broadcasting the seeds. 



In the Philippines the seed of this tree is not naturally dis- 

 tributed far from the parent tree but its ability to seed at an early 



