164 Pomander Collection of Hawaiian Folk-lore. 



a liill are called kanaiki. This is the meaning: Go straight to the potatoes (when the 

 rainy season sets in) before being benumbed with the cold. After the first lacking, 

 wait awhile then dig around them, this is called kaioio. which means a grassy yield be- 

 tween the first and last diggings. \Vhen the potatoes from the hill have all been dug it 

 is called kalina, which means, the branches yield the potatoes, [for] when the stems 

 are drawn from the hill the vines grow again; these are called haaiveazve, meaning roots, 

 or potatoes recovered from the soil. 



When the field is again cleared it is called kahili j^ulu. and the potatoes found at 

 such clearings are called piinkolea. This is the meaning: the stubble and the dry vines 

 being set on fire the potatoes are thrown in. After the burning there remained the char- 

 coal which was called pneleJui. Potato is very satisfying when made into j^oi, or eaten 

 in its solid form when roasted. It is also a fattening feed for swine. 



Potato is suitable in summer and in winter if it develops throughout unblighted, 

 bearing properly without getting scabby, if not destroyed by caterpillers and worms, pro- 

 \iding the digging be done ]:iroperly. 



Planting in rocky places was called niakaili. There was verv little soil proper, the 

 greater portion [of the field] being gravel, with rocks all around. There were also large 

 holes resembling banana holes. Upon the sprouting of the potato vines gravel and stones 

 are piled up around them, and by the time the hole was covered thick with leaves, the 

 potatoes were large and grooved; they were ridge-formed but not very sweet; they 

 were somewhat tasteless and insipid ; not very palatable. 



OF THE BANANA. 



Dig until the hole is wide open, about one and a half feet deep. The reason for 

 digging so deep is that the banana may not be blown down by the wind. Then bring the 

 seed banana and i)lace it on the edge of the hole. Eat to satiety and then i)lant the 

 banana. Grasp the seed plant, lift it up and exclaim in boasting words (with great 



force) : 



The great banana! 



The great banana ! 



It will yield ten hands. '"^ 



The bunch can not be carried ; 



It will take two men to carry it 



With difficulty. 



Some people during the planting cross the hands behind the back, some drag the 

 seed banana, and some go in a state of nudity. Bananas ])lanted under such jiractices 

 yield with fulness in some cases, while some do not. The time of day for planting is 

 when the sun it at the zenith and just about to descend, which is the time when the 

 shadow is directlv underneath one. If the banana is planted then, it will bear in a short 

 time, for as the sun ascends and descends so does the banana i)rogress and decline. If 

 planted early in the morning it takes a long time for the banana to grow before it bears 

 any fruit. 



"A hand of bananas is the sectional cluster of a bunch of this tropic fruit, each carrying a dozen or more finger 

 like fruits, varying from six to fourteen successive hands or clusters to the bunch, according to variety and fer- 

 tility of soil. 



