712 



HARRIS 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



he resumed them again until the increasing demands of 

 his seed business upon his time prevented him from 

 continuing them. In all there were 171 chapters. It is 

 to be regrel ted that these "Walks and Talks "have never 

 been published in book form, as they constitute a deci- 

 dedly unique feature in ouragriculturalliterature. These 

 articles were written in the form of conversations with 

 the "Deacon, "who was his neighbor and one of the oldest 

 farmers in the town, and not, as has often been sup- 

 posed, a fictitious character. They are narratives of 

 actual experiences on the farm, and talks about things 

 that occupied his thought for the time, and have, there- 

 fore, an intensely practical character throughout. He 

 lets the Deacon state that farming is a poor business, 

 and then patiently talks him out of it, and convinces him 

 that the only farming that pays is "high farming," mak- 

 ing a garden of the entire farm. He cherished the idea 

 that the intelligent farmer must put his questions to 

 the soil and not to his neighbor, and then have the 

 patience to wait and read the answers when they come. 

 He had an abiding belief in manures and clean land, 

 and in all his writings he earnestly endeavored to im- 

 press upon his readers that the real source of fertility 

 must be looked for in the stores of plant-food lying 

 dormant in the soil, and that tillage, underdraiuing and 

 thorough cultivation are the means by which we develop 

 and render this plant-food available, and that the real 

 basis of success is faith accompanied by good works. 

 His books, "Harris on the Pig," "Talks on Manures," 

 and "The Use of Nitrate of Soda" are all of the same 

 practical stamp. His last book, "Gardening for Young 

 and Old." as its title indicates, is intended as a guide 

 for the boy and his grandfather at the same time, but 

 with the mental reservation that it should be principally 

 for the young folks. Mr. Harris realized the need of 

 more gardening and better gardeners, and had strong 

 faith in the promising future of seed-growing in this 

 country. In the development of these industries he saw 

 bright opportunities for the boys, because they were 

 young and could afford to wait, and especially because 

 they would be more liable to adopt new processes. In this 

 work he makes a strong plea for a more general cultiva- 

 tion of flowers, losing no opportunity to convince the 

 reader that the beauty of flowers elevates the tastes, and 

 their cultivation gives health and pleasure. These and 

 similar sentiments pervade all his writings, and may 

 well serve as a keynote to his life's aim. Whatever 

 work he undertook he did with a full heart and convinc- 

 ing earnestness. His writings and teachings have left 

 an indelible impress upon legions of cultivators of the 

 soil, because he was sound in principle and honest in his 

 convictions. In summing up his life-work, it is safe to 

 assert that no one has done more in this country to 

 dignify rational and profitable agriculture and horti- 

 culture than Joseph Harris. p_ ]y[ Hexamer. 



HAHTWfiGIA (Theodor Hartweg collected in Mexico 

 for the Horticultural Society of London, and found these 

 plants near Vera Cruz). Orchidilceie. A genus of 2 

 species of tender epiphytic orchids from tropical Amer- 

 ica, growing about a foot high and bearing purple fls. 

 The genus has the habit of Epidendrum, section Am- 

 phiglottis, but differs in having the labellum saccate at 

 the base, in which respect the genus approaches Po- 

 nera ; however, Ponera has a very different habit. IF. 

 purpurea was once advertised by .John Saul. Rest them 

 in a coolhouse Oct. to Mar. Growing temperature 

 should be 65-90°. 



purpiirea, Lind. Lvs. solitary, leathery, ovate-lanceo- 

 late, equally terete with the stem, many times shorter 

 than the thread-like peduncle: fls. small, purple; sepals 

 acute, a little larger than the petals; limb of the lip 

 white at the base, callous. Mex. 



H. gemma, Reichh. f, "This is a most lovely gera," wrote 

 Reichenb.ach, and " much better th.in its predecessor." Gemma, 

 therefore, does not mean "twin," as sometimes stated. Lvs. 

 solitary, semi-terete, thick, acute, channelled, blotched with 

 blackish violet ; fls. amethyst-purple, in a small, 1-branched 

 p.iniele; odd sepal acute, obtusely strap-shaped ; equal sepals 

 oblong-acute. Cent. Amer. 



HARVEST BELLS. Genuana Pneumonnnthe. 



HASSOCK GRASS. Consult Descliampsia. 



HASTtNGSIA (S. Clinton Hastings, promoter of Cali- 

 fornian botany). LilUtcete. Two bulbous plants of the 

 Pacific slope, with white or greenish fls. in many-fid. 

 panicles or racemes : perianth segments distinct, each 

 obscurely 3-nerved; stamens G; style short. Hastingsias 

 have strong, nearly naked stems, arising from a scaly 

 bulb: lvs. thick. The two species are offered by collec- 

 tors, but they are little known in cult. Treatment as 

 forCamassia. H. 41ba, Wats., is 2-3 ft. high : lvs. J^in. 

 or less wide : raceme simple or nearly so, 1 ft. long, 

 densely fl<l., the lis. ^4in. or less long, white or greenish 

 white; stamens equaling the segments. N. Calif, north- 

 ward. H. bracteosa, Wats. Bracts narrow and nearly 

 equaling the fls., which are larger than in the other, and 

 white; stamens half as long as segments: lvs. longer. 

 Oregon. L H. B. 



HAW, or HAWTHORN. Consult Crataijus. 



HAW, BLACK. Vibiir 



Ifoliur, 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, HORTICULTURE IN. Fig. 

 1020. The grouj. known as the Hawaiian or Sandwich 

 Islands is located about 2,100 miles from San Francisco, 

 in a southwesterly direction. It lies between the paral- 

 lels 18" 50' and 23° 5' north latitude and between the 

 meridians 150° 40' and 100° 50' west longitude. 



Aeea. — The five most important islands have an area 

 of about 6,200 square miles, or rather less than that of 

 Massachusetts, and extend about 380 miles from north- 

 west to southeast. 



Climates. — It is hardly possible to speak of the cli- 

 mate of Hawaii ( as the whole group is sometimes called) , 

 for there are so many different climates in this small 

 area. The extent of the rainfall, for example, which 

 forms so important a factor in the horticultural condi- 

 tions of a country, is decidedly different in different re- 

 gions and even in localities within a few miles of each 

 other. To understand the climatic conditions, it is nec- 

 essary to recall that these islands are of volcanic for- 

 mation, their central parts and the larger part of their 

 area being occupied by rugged and high mountains, 

 with valleys lying between the ranges and narrow 

 plains near the coast. Being in the path of the north- 

 east trade winds, the windward side of the islands re- 

 ceives an abundant rainfall throughout the year, while 

 the southwest shores are comparatively dry. Thus, at 

 Honolulu, on the southwest shore of Oahu, the annual 

 rainfall averages about 38 inches, while that of the city 

 of Hilo, on the windward side of the island of Hawaii, 

 measures 12 feet. Kven within a very narrow range, as, 

 for example, the limits of the city of Honolulu, there is 

 great variety of rainfall, certain localities receiving fre- 

 quent rains throughout the year, while others only two 

 or three miles distant practice irrigation constantly. 

 Some of the great sugar-cane plantations depend wholly 

 upon the natural supply of water, while others could 

 not grow cane at all without their expensive systems of 

 artesian wells and irrigation. 



Similarly there is a great variation in the temperature 

 in different parts of this small but important country, 

 but exceedingly slight variations with the changing sea- 

 sons. The windward side is cooler than that which is 

 sheltered by the mountains, but in no part of the islands 

 is the heat so intense as would be expected from their 

 location within the tropics. Only rarely, in the hottest 

 localities, does the mercury rise to 90° F. Again, the 

 variation in elevation from sea level to many thousand 

 feet gives a like variation in temperature, so that some 

 of the mountains of the largest island are covered with 

 snow during a part of the year. In short, so far as cli- 

 mate is concerned, the Hawaiian Islands offer all that 

 could be asked for great and diversified horticultural 

 industries. 



Horticultural Districts. — Only a small percentage 

 of the total area of the country is suitable for cultiva- 

 tion. The tillable portions are, in general, the plains 

 along the coast and the valleys among the mountains. 

 By far the larger part of such lands is now occu- 

 pied by sugar-cane plantations, which are to be 

 found on every important island of the group. There 



