SOME OBSERVATIONS ON HAWAIIAN FORESTS 
AND FOREST COVER IN THEIR RELATION TO 
WATER SUPPLY. 
A paper by W. M. Giffard read before the Joint Committee on 
Forestry of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association and the Ter- 
ritorial Board of Agriculture and Forestry. 
The Nature and Peculiarities of the Wet Forests of Hawau 
and the Cause of Their Deterioration and Decline. 
Much has been written on this subject and at first thought 
it may appear quite unnecessary that further explanation be 
made of the composition and nature of the Hawaiian forests 
that are needed for drainage or the conservation of water sup- 
ply. It is, however, very ‘apparent that there are still a num- 
ber of individuals in the Territory that up to the present have 
ignorantly, carelessly or wantonly disregarded the oft repeated 
warnings of foresters and botanists as to the necessity for pro- 
tecting these forests. Clearings ¢ontinue to be opened up 
through the encroachment of man and beast, and the forest in 
places is still being pushed back by the making of clearings and 
roads to these that ought never to have been permitted. Else- 
where, the cutting of the forest for posts and for firewood is 
still going on, and again, where wild cattle and hogs are at 
large in the forest, general destruction is caused by their roam- 
ing around grubbing and feeding on and trampling down the 
herbaceous undergrowth so necessary for soil and water pro- 
tection. 
It is well understood by all having knowledge of the peculiar 
nature of these virgin forests that much of their natural under- 
growth, composed as it is of climbing vines (lianes) and herb- 
aceous plants, ferns and mosses, not only protects the soil from 
erosion but furnishes a protective cover for the surface growing 
roots of our indigenous trees. 
Take for instance the native Ohia Lehua, which attains such 
fine growth in these wet forests and of which they are in the 
main composed. No observing person passing through such a 
forest can have failed to notice the peculiar stilt-like roots of 
the Ohia. This characteristic habit of growth is explained by 
the epiphytic habits of the Ohia. The tree has developed from 
