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breeder  will  produce  types  of  plants  to  resist  particular  fungus 
and  insect  pests ; he  will  evolve  varieties  of  economic  plants 
to  flourish  in  climatic  conditions  now  considered  impossible 
for  their  existence ; he  will  multiply  their  production  three- 
fold ; and  finally  by  combination  he  will  produce  new  breeds 
of  plants  of  entirely  new  type. 
It  is  to  be  considered  that  hitherto  the  development  of  our 
present  economic  plants  has  been  confined  almost  exclusively 
to  the  flora  of  temperate  zones.  When  the  principles  of  scien- 
tific breeding  have  been  applied  for  some  generations  to  our 
luxuriant  tropical  species,  the  great  future  for  this  new  depart- 
ment of  science  can  be  partly  appreciated.  For  this  purpose 
Honolulu  is  particularly  well  situated  and  is  fortunate  in  the 
presence  here  of  scientists  who  are  not  only  versed  in  the  new 
methods  of  development,  but  have  already  made  headway  in 
their  operation.  Among  the  work  already  in  progress  may  be 
mentioned  the  production  of  a new  rice  and  a new  cotton 
specially  adapted  to  our  peculiar  needs,  and  the  development 
of  a variety  of  the  papaia  possessing  a sufficiently  toughened 
skin  to  withstand  the  long  transit  to  the  mainland  market. 
On  another  page  of  this  issue  of  the  Forester  appears  a table 
showing  the  areas  of  the  existing  forest  reserves,  corrected  to 
June  30,  1909.  With  the  four  new  reserves  proclaimed  in 
June,  the  total  area  is  brought  up  to  545,764  acres,  of  which 
65  per  cent,  is  government  land. 
FARMERS'  INSTITUTE  WORKERS. 
Among  the  important  conferences  of  importance  to  agricul- 
ture which  take  place  this  summer  on  the  mainland,  should  be 
included  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Association  of 
Farmers’  Institute  Workers,  which  will  be  held  at  Portland, 
Oregon,  on  August  16th  and  17th  next.  Among  some  of  the 
most  interesting  subjects  of  discussion,  the  practicability  will 
be  considered  of  conducting  demonstrations  in  stock  feeding 
and  management,  and  in  field,  orchard  and  vineyard  produc- 
tion, and  the  advisability  of  employing  experts  to  devote  their 
whole  time  to  visiting  farmers  and  offering  advice  respecting 
the  improvement  of  their  practice.  Another  plan  which  it  is 
hoped  to  arouse  sufficient  interest  in  to  put  it  in  operation,  is 
the  establishment  of  a movable  school  of  agriculture  to  be 
maintained  in  the  field  the  entire  year.  Much  definite  advan- 
tage is  to  be  expected  from  such  representative  agricultural 
meetings  as  the  one  about  to  take  place  and  the  account  of  the 
proceedings  will  be  awaited  with  great  interest. 
