67 
breast high and from 80 to 100 feet tall. Unfortunately these 
good stands are all limited in area. No exact survey of them 
has ever been made nor any careful estimate as to the yield 
per acre. 
Above the elevation of 4000 feet throughout South Kona — 
and the line is sharply marked — is a belt of nearly pure Koa. 
The trees are of good size, from 3 to 5 feet in diameter, and 
of fair height, 60 to 80 feet. This belt is approximately a mile 
wide. The large trees do not extend much above 5500 feet 
in elevation. Above that, on Kahuku, the forest is of the 
character already described. 
At the extreme south end of Kona and on Manuka there is 
a small section of great botanical interest, in that here are 
found trees and shrubs that occur only in one or two other 
places in Hawaii. This area is similar in character but not as 
large as the section between Puuwaawaa and Huehue at the 
north end of the Kona District. 
It is unfortunate, but true, that throughout the Kona Dis- 
trict there are no streams and only a few springs that actually 
deserve the name. In the proposed South Kona Forest Re- 
serve special attention was paid to locating all the known 
sources of water, and Mr. Wright's original map shows the 
various waterholes. As a whole, this forest is unexplored. 
For fifteen miles along the coast from Waiea to the Kau line, 
not more than eight trails go through the forest, and these 
are of the roughest sort and almost impassable in bad 
weather. With such inadequate means of access it is im- 
possible to do much more than fix the outside boundaries of 
the forest. A more intimate knowledge of it must be left till 
later. Personally, I have seen as much of South Kona as is 
now feasible without the cutting of special trails. This re- 
port is based on observations made during several visits at 
dififeren't times, as well as upon additional data secured by 
Mr. Wright at the time he fixed the forest boundaries. 
OBJECT OF THE RESERVE. 
The purDOse of creating the South Kona Forest Reserve 
is essentially to bring these government forest lands under 
the department of the Territorial Government especially charged 
with caring for the forests, in order that plans for their wise 
use may the more easily and effectively be out into execution. 
It goes almost without saying that the first need in South 
Kona, as in other Hawaiian forests, is to safeguard in an 
adequate way all the present known sources of water, and 
also such localities as give promise of being possible of de- 
velopment. These areas should be kent permanently under 
a dense forest cover for their chief value is as producers of 
water. 
