219 



AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY IN HAWAII. 



The Report of the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and 

 Forestry of Hawaii for 1910 shows a record of much important work 

 done during the year. In Forestry much has been done in planting, 

 and the photographs showing the growth of Eucalyptus, evidently a 

 suitable tree for the island, leave nothing to be desired. The area 

 recommended t j be reserved for forest is 575,154 acres and that 

 already reserved is 386,547 acres. Besides this, there is a considerable 

 area of privately owned forest. A valuable address on the part play- 

 ed by the Forest in Conservation by Mr. Ralph S. Hasmer is 

 printed, urging the importance of protection, especially from the point 

 of view of the water supply and p^otciction from erosion. He is strong 

 on the point that every plantation company which has waste land 

 should plant up definite areas with forest trees quite as regularly as 

 it harvests its cane, and it ought also to fence off and protect the native 

 forests from which it derives its water. The Entomological division 

 is a very important one in Hawaii, and the precautions against the 

 introduction of exotic insects are perhaps more elaborate here than 

 anywhere else. It is probably easier to prevent the landing of in- 

 iurious insects in Hawaii than in most countries, as a check can be 

 kept to a large extent by supervision of imported fruits and plants, 

 the Mediterranean fruit-fly, however, has in spite of all precautions 

 effected a landing, and settled down in one of these islands. It is really 

 practically impossible to prevent the invasion of exotic insects into 

 any country. A ship may come to the harbour bringing say, fruit, 

 and not land a single fruit, yet the fruit-fly may easily leave the ship 

 and land. Again many insects can fly very great distances. Were it 

 not so distant, islands like Hawaii would have no indigenous insects. 

 It seems almost hopeless to prevent some pests from landing any- 

 where, but the authorities are taking the utmost care to check the 

 importation of infected vegetable produce. It does seem, however, 

 carrying matters a little too far when five poisonous snakes belong- 

 in >; to a showman were refused a landing and carefully destroyed. It 

 was hardly likely that the showman would let a breeding pair of 

 snakes escape, and certainly in this part of the world we find the d-nn- 

 gers of our poisonous snakes enormously exaggerated, while their use 

 in destroying rats and other vermin is much in their favour. Besides, 

 however, the work of keeping out injurious insects the Entomological 

 department has spent much time and work in introducing enemies of 

 the pests in the form of parasites, and also fig insects without the 

 aid of which first class figs cannot be obtained. This latter introduc- 

 tion has proved a great success. Insectivorous-birds, too, are to be 

 introduced to keep in check the insect pests. The introduction of 

 parasites on pests is a most important work especially in a country 

 so isolated as Hawaii. In countries connected with an extensive 

 hinterland area, or not too far from a mainland, the matter usually 

 soon settles itself. An insect or troublesome weed invades a country 

 and soon becomes too abundant, when it has become sufficiently 

 abundant a parasite turns up, or is evolved, and the pest gets a check 



