51 



soil on the ridges from falling- in on the hulis. h^jr the same 

 reason the tops of the ridges are flattened. The bottoms of the 

 furrows are about six inches below the ground level. They are 

 softened to a further depth of 3 to 6 inches with a hoe. Stable 

 manure is sprinkled in the bottom of the furrow and mixed with 

 the soil by means of a cultivator. 



A boy passes along the furrows wath an armful of hitli, drop- 

 ping them in pairs about one foot apart. The planter follows 

 with a dibble, and "dibbles in" the huli, inserting the bottoms of 

 the hitli two or three inches under the ground. By pointing the 

 huli to the north the sun is not so liable to injure them. 



Planting is usually done after a rain, or during cloudy weather. 

 It was formerly a common practice to spread grass, banana 

 leaves, or any similar material on the hills or rows, to serve as 

 manure and as a mulch. This process was known as po'i-kalo. 



About a month after the huli are planted the field is hoed. As 

 soon as the plants have developed tw^o or three leaves, cultivation 

 with a one-horse cultivator is begun. The cultivator frequently 

 knocks lumps of dirt down upon the plants. Someone follows the 

 cultivator and removes these clods. Cultivation needs to be fre- 

 quent or else not at all. At the Hilo Boarding School the kalo 

 fields are cultivated every week or ten days till the crop is nine 

 months old. When cultivation is persisted in as frequently as 

 this, roots do not form within the depth of soil stirred by the cul- 

 tivator. No harm is caused by the cultivator. If the field 

 remains uncultivated for three weeks or a month, the roots de- 

 velop near the surface of the soil. In this case cultivation cuts 

 off many roots and harms the crops. 



If the field is cultivated frequently, and hoed about once a 

 month, the weeds are easily kept in check. Small kalo. stinted by 

 weeds, is called kokolc. At each hoeing, in the earlier stages, 

 some of the earth that the cultivator has banked around the plants 

 is drawn back upon the ridge. By the time the kalo is five or six 

 months old the ground is flat, and after this the cultivator is made 

 narrower, x^t each hoeing a little soil is banked up around the 

 taro. By the time the crop is nine months old (the exact time 

 depending upon elevation above sea and similar factors), the kalo 

 is on a slight ridge. Now the cultivation is stopped, and the 

 weeding is confined to shallow hoeing and hand-pulling. 



After the kalo begins to ripen it is left strictly alone. Xo harm 

 results if the weeds do come in as the kalo foliage dies down. 

 Weeds apparently prevent the hasty ripening of the crop. After 

 pulling the kalo, the weeds are plowed under. 

 (To be Continued) 



