THE JHAWAIIAN 



FORESTER i AGRICULTURIST 



Vol. XI. JULY, 1914. No. 7 



This number contains the conchision of the article on "Kalo," 

 by Professor MacCaughey and Mr. Joseph S. Emerson, which 

 was begun some months ago. It is probably the most exhaustive 

 treatise on what has been called "the Hawaiian staff of life" 

 which has ever been written. 



FORESTER HOSMER'S DEPARTURE. 



In the departure of Air. Ralph S. Hosmer, for the past eleven 

 years superintendent of forestry for this Territory, to take the 

 headship of the school of forestry of Cornell University, Hawaii 

 loses one of the most useful public officials that have ever been in 

 its service. Having graduated from Harvard in 1894 with the 

 degree of agricultural science, Mr. Hosmer was two years later 

 appointed assistant in the division of soils in the United States 

 department of agriculture. In 1902 he received the degree of 

 master of forestry from the Yale forest school, and in 1903, upon 

 the recommendation of Mr. Gifford Pinchot, was appointed su- 

 perintendent of forestry for the Territory of Hawaii. Prior to 

 his arrival here very little government forestry had been at- 

 tempted, although the way had been pioneered to considerable 

 extent by some forest planting in the environs of Honolulu, also 

 by a good deal of foresting done by far-sighted sugar planters. 

 For many years also the press had urged the importance of sys- 

 tematic forestation of the bald expanses on mountain and plain, 

 and a standing committee of the Sugar Factors' Association issued 

 annual reports on the subject charged with valuable information 

 and inspiration. 



Yet it was left to Mr. Hosmer to place the cause of public for- 

 estry upon a scientific footing, and how well he has acquitted him- 

 self of the task the records of the Board of Agriculture and For- 

 estry attest. "At the end of the year 1913, 'TVIr. Hosmer's latest 

 annual report is quoted, "there were 34 forest reserves in Hawaii 

 with a total area of 786,869 acres, of which 60 per cent (540,877 

 acres) was land belonging to the Territory." This is Mr. Hos- 

 mer's achievement in gross, but it falls very far short of being an 

 inventory of his services to Hawaii. His introduction of useful 

 trees, plants and seeds, by purchase and exchange ; his personal 

 interest in town improvement schemes, his advice always cheer- 



