20 



boast of, for it was one of the plants to be earliest utilized by 

 man. It is a staple food of many primitive peoples, because of 

 its easy culture and great food value. 



9. WET-L.\ND CULTIVATION. 



The selection of land suitable for kalo-raising- is based upon the 

 considerations discussed under Cultural Re(|uiremcnts, and upon 

 such other factors as market facilities, and disposal of crop. 



The site having been chosen, the land is cleared. In Hawaiian 

 this clearing process is called zvaclc. Rubbish, weeds, and grass 

 are burned off, and stumps, boulders, and other similar impedi- 

 ments dug up. The boundaries of the patch, which are to be 

 embankments, are determined by the shape of adjacent patches 

 and by the water levels. In the Hawaiian language, mahina in- 

 dicates a cultivated patch or field ; when cultivated in kalo it is 

 called a mahina ai. Ai in its most general sense means food, 

 whatever is eaten. More especially it is vegetable food as dis- 

 tinguished from i'a, fish or animal food. As wheat and other 

 grains furnish the material for bread, the European "staff of 

 life," and rice is the staple food of Asia, so kalo is the food of 

 the Hawaiians, and in the words mala ai, mahina ai, ai paa, ai pa'i, 

 pa'i ai, holo ai, etc., ai always signifies kalo or some form of food 

 prepared from it. 



The terms pai^'a and kiiakiia were also generally applied to 

 both wet and dry fields of kalo. 



Dry land fields of kalo or sweet potatoes were designated mala. 

 This word was never applied to wet ])atches, which were always 

 called lo'i. 



A narrow strip of planted kalo, much longer than wide, was 

 called mo'o. Mo'o is a general name for all kinds of lizards. 

 A long narrow strip of land, from its resemblance in shape to a 

 lizard's back, was called mo'o. If planted with kalo it was called 

 mo'o ai. If it consisted of a long row of lo'i, or wet kalo patches, 

 it was called mo'o kaupapa lo'i. 



Kalo as it is usually grown in the lo'i, or wet land patch, re- 

 quires considerable water. The digging of water-courses and 

 keeping them free from weeds became a very important matter 

 in the olden times. These water-courses, often of great leni,4h, 

 showed no little engineering skill in their construction, and the 

 regulations which necessarily had to be made and enforced to 

 give each i)atch its proper allowance of water were very precise, 

 and often complicated. hVom this it will be seen that as water 

 or wai was the prime necessity in the cultivation of kalo. an 

 abundance of water, zcai-a'ai, signified wealth, and the regula- 

 tions relating to the distribution of water, ka tia icai, signified law 

 in general. Thus the Ten Commandments becomes in I lawaiian 

 na kauais.'ai he it))ii, the ten water regulations. 



The Hawaiian name for rushes or coarse swamp grasses was 



