THE HAWAIIAN FORESTER 

 AND AGRICULTURIST 



Vol. XIV. Honolulu, May, 1917. No. 5 



WARNING TO RANCHERS AND DAIRYMEN 



The recent and extensive spread of the vigorous weed called 

 Spiny Pig Weed, Amaranthus spiiiosus L., in the pastures near 

 Honolulu and in other parts of the Territory has prompted the 

 Board of Agriculture and Forestry to warn ranchers and dairy- 

 men against this obnoxious plant and to use every possible means 

 to prevent its further spread. 



The Spiny Pig Weed is closely related to the Tumble Weed 

 and the Beet Root, which are found on the mainland, and in 

 Hawaii grows to a height of at least five feet and spreads by seed 

 in an alarmingly rapid manner. The chief objection to this weed 

 is the fact that it bears a pair of very sharp thorns at the base 

 of the leaves. Cattle will not eat the plant and they shun locali- 

 ties where it occurs. 



This weed is particularly obnoxious because its seeds, con- 

 sidering the size of the plant, are relatively small and are formed 

 in enormous numbers, one plant producing as many as 115,600 

 seeds. Since the seeds mature long before they are suspected and 

 are shaken off by the wind, it is important to destroy the plant 

 before the seeds form or come to maturity, in order to prevent the 

 weed from spreading. 



It is, therefore, suggested that in order to prevent the occu- 

 pation and ruination of pasture land by the spread of the Spiny 

 Pig Weed, all persons owning or controlling such lands attack 

 at once the weed where found, removing it by the roots and 

 burning plant, seeds and all. 



Hawaii's fruit fly control campaign is attracting attention far 

 away. More than a page of a recent number of the Agricultural 

 News (West Indies) is devoted to the subject, the information 

 having evidently been gained from a federal report of the ex- 

 periments conducted here by Professors Back and Pemberton 

 of the United States department of agriculture. Referring to 

 the four parasites introduced here by Silvestri, Fullaway and 

 Bridwell, the article says that the data published by Back and 

 Pemberton "show that all four parasites have successfully estab- 

 lished themselves and already promise to be an important factor 

 in the control of Ceratitis capitata in Hawaii. These parasites 

 have so far found conditions unusually favorable, with an abun- 



