231 
Aff ore station  of  the  Upper  Slopes. 
Above  the  Mamane  belt,  between  the  elevations  of  from  eight 
to  eleven  thousand  feet,  and  in  sections  lower  down  where  the 
Mamani  forest  is  open  and  broken,  there  exists  an  excellent  op- 
portunity for  the  planting  of  commercially  valuable  exotic  trees.. 
The  general  conditions  of  soil,  situation  and  climate  at  this  eleva- 
tion are  sufficiently  comparable  to_  those  on  the  mountains  of 
Southern  California  to  make  it  appear  reasonable  to  expect  that 
the  kinds  of  trees  that  do  well  there  can  also  be  made  to  grow 
and  thrive  on  Mauna  Kea. 
The  planting  of  pines,  spruces  and  firs  on  the  upper  slopes  of 
Mauna  Kea  has  been  recommended  by  each  of  the  professional 
foresters  who  have  visited  the  islands : Mr.  E.  M.  Griffiths,  now 
State  Forester  of  Wisconsin;  Mr.  W.  L.  Hall,  of  the  U.  S.  Forest 
Service,  and  by  me.  Favorable  conditions  for  tree  planting  also 
obtain  on  the  upper  slopes  of  Mount  Haleakala  on  Maui,  and 
on  Mount  Hualalai  on  Hawaii. 
The  U.  S.  Forest  Service  has  shown  its  belief  in  the  feasibility 
of  the  plan  by  allotting  the  sum  of  $2,000  for  experimental  plant- 
ing on  Mauna  Kea  and  Haleakala,  during  the  present  fiscal  period. 
This  money  is  now  being  expended  under  my  direction  as  Col- 
laborator in  the  Forest  Service,  in  the  inclosure  and  planting  up 
of  a number  of  experimental  plots  on  these  two  mountains,  located 
at  varying  elevations  and  having  different  conditions  of  aspect 
and  exposure. 
It  is  the  intention  at  the  start  to  plant  in  each  inclosure  a suffi- 
cient number  of  seedling  trees — say  100  of  each — of  some  eight 
kinds  of  coniferous  trees  (pines,  spruces  and  firs)  likely  to  do 
well.  Later,  it  is  expected  that  additional  allotments  will  be 
secured  from  the  Forest  Service  to  continue  the  work.  Eventu- 
ally those  trees  that  prove  to  be  adapted  to  the  situation  can  be 
more  extensively  planted,  being  then  set  out  in  such  a way  that 
in  the  end  a belt  of  forest  will  be  secured.  Such  a result  is,  of 
course,  only  to  be  expected  after  a considerable  time.  This  makes 
the  experiment  one  that  is  only  likely  to  be  undertaken  by  the 
Government.  That  it  appears  practical  and  practicable  to  the 
Forest  Service  is  evidenced  by  the  allotment  already  made. 
At  first  it  was  felt  that  it  would  be  sufficient  if  only  the  areas 
actually  needed  for  the  experimental  plots  were  turned  over  by  the 
Land  Department  for  this  use.  But  on  consultation  with  the 
Land  Commissioner  it  appeared  that  from  an  administrative, 
standpoint  it  would  be  more  satisfactory  if  all  of  this  portion  of 
Kaohe  were  transferred  to  this  Board.  This  proposal  met  with 
the  approval  of  the  Governor.  The  present  report  is  the  next 
step  in  the  matter. 
