17 
ketable lumber are extremely limited. The head of a lumber 
concern on the Coast once told me that he would hesitate to 
tackle any lumbering proposition on such comparatively small 
forest areas as we have in this Territory. The clear marketable 
lumber would be so limited in quantity that it would and could 
not pay. What has been done thus far on these lines has caused 
but little harm and it is hardly likely that further operations 
will be undertaken for a long while to come, if ever, unless it 
be by the saw mills now in Puna which still have limited areas 
of forest trees at their command. 
« have in the previous section referred to the protective effect 
which intermediate or adjacent forest cover has on the water 
forests. Much more might also be said as to the modification 
of climate and rainfall which wholesale denudation of indige- 
nous forest areas, such as those existing in the upper sections 
of Puna, Kau and Kona might eventually bring about. It is 
not only the large agriculturists who suffer from a lack of water 
supply. The smaller farmers, the graziers and residents gen- 
erally are all more or less effected when such modifications of 
climate take place as bring about long and protracted droughts 
in certain sections or districts where there are no springs or 
running streams. : 
It would be well to study the reasons for such protracted 
droughts in sections where in old days these were never known. 
One certain conclusion, however, is apparent and that is, that 
the less we disturb natural forest conditions the better. When 
such disturbance appears necessary for the purposes of agricul- 
ture, experimental work extending over a reasonable period 
should first be undertaken, lest there result an altogether un- 
necessary destruction of forest growth and a further disturbance 
of climatic conditions. Surely there are sufficient cultivable and 
grazing lands for all without our taking such chances as the 
jeopardizing of our sources of water supply or changing our 
climatic conditions. 
Forests Intended for Purely Economic Uses. 
Of these there are practically none in this Territory beyond 
the small areas which have been planted in recent years. The 
fuel so necessary for our plantation laborers and other country 
residents has been mostly derived from these planted stands, or 
where no such plantings existed, from wild guava or other ad- 
jacent. indigenous forest areas. 
