432 J. S. Emerson — Some Characteristics of Kau. 



ordinary dirt road, unless properly covered with stone, is quickly 

 worn down by constant travel. The wheels of loaded teams 

 sink into the soil, which in time is blown away by the winds, 

 or washed out by the heavy rains which occasionally fall. 



From Waiohinu to Hilea the cane fields are mostly on the 

 hills, where the soil is of great depth and remarkably free 

 from rocks or stones, so that almost anywhere a crow bar or 

 walking stick can readily be thrust down to its full length. 

 On the low lands, however, the soil is usually shallow, with the 

 bed rock frequently cropping out, or may be wanting altogether. 

 The Hawaiian Agricultural Co. are more fortunate in the lay 

 of their plantation, and have an extensive tract of about four 

 thousand acres of rich cane land, not perched on isolated hills, 

 but occupying two large valleys with the gentle slopes between 

 them. These fields are somewhat scattered about, with unpro- 

 ductive areas between them, but as a whole they are far more 

 compact and accessible than the fields from Waiohinu to Hilea. 



Kau is not a well-watered district. It often suffers from 

 prolonged drought, when thedry winds parch and destroy whole 

 fields of young cane and raise clouds of dust from the newly 

 plowed kinds. When at length the long wished for rain comes, it 

 sometimes ponrs down in such torrents as to cause great destruc- 

 tion of property. The light soil soon dries up again, so that 

 the irregularity of the rains is the more keenly felt, while the 

 cane stalks register the fact in the varying and irregular length 

 and diameter of their joints. During these periods of drought 

 great care has to be exercised to prevent any one from smok- 

 ing in the fields or making a fire in the grass, for when a fire is 

 once started, it is sometimes extremely difficult to prevent it 

 from spreading under ground. The roots and other vegetable 

 matter in the soil are consumed, while the mineral basis of the 

 soil itself is so light and spongy as to allow enough air to enter 

 to support combustion many inches below the surface. At 

 times, when such a fire was supposed to be extinguished, it has 

 burrowed its way unobserved, to show its presence at some 

 other point where the surface would cave in and the ground 

 itself seemed on fire. Mr. W. E. Kowell states that " one 

 peculiarity of the soil on the Pahala plantation is the entire 

 absence of any clay or anything adhesive in its composition, 

 so that it does not stick to the shoes, however wet it may be." 



At various points through the district it is possible to exam- 

 ine the record of the rocks and to see the character of the suc- 

 cessive strata resting one upon another. It would appear from 

 such observations that most of the strata represent ordinary 

 lava flows, with but thin separating sheets of ash or earth. 

 But Providence has most considerately anticipated the indus- 

 trial wants of man at the present time, and above all these 



