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REMARKS  BY  MR.  RALPH  S.  HOSMER , SUPERIN- 
TENDENT OP  FORESTRY,  BEFORE  THE  HAWAI- 
IAN RUBBER  GROWERS'  ASSOCIATION,  DECEM- 
BER 16,  1909. 
In  his  story,  “My  Double  and  How  He  Undid  Me,”  the  late 
Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale  tells  of  a man  who,  when  called  upon 
for  a speech,  always  responded,  “So  much  has  already  been  said, 
and,  on  the  whole,  so  well  said,  that  I will  not  further  occupy  the 
time.” 
After  the  interesting  statements  that  have  been  made  today  in 
regard  to  the  progress  of  the  rubber  industry  in  Hawaii,  I feel  a 
good  deal  in  the  case  of  the  man  in  Dr.  Hale's  story,  but  I am 
glad  to  appear  at  this  meeting,  if  only  to  bear  testimony  of  my 
belief  in  rubber  as  one  of  the  diversified  industries  of  Hawaii. 
It  may  be  that  rubber  will  not  yield  as  high  a profit  as  some  of  its 
more  enthusiastic  promoters  expect,  but  still  from  its  record  so 
far,  I think  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  rubber  will  take 
its  place  as  one  of  the  established  industries  of  the  Territory. 
When  I was  assigned  the  subject,  “Rubber  and  Reforestation,” 
I suppose  the  secretary  had  in  mind  that  I should  point  out  the 
benefit  of  having  rubber  trees  as  a forest  cover  established  in  dis- 
tricts where  it  is  desirable  to  conserve  moisture.  This  is  perhaps 
a good  text  for  a speech,  but  I think  I can  make  better  use  of  the 
time  at  my  disposal  by  considering  the  topic,  not  under  the  one 
heading,  “Rubber  and  Reforestation,”  but  rather  in  two  parts : 
rubber  as  a type  of  diversified  industry  and  the  desirability  of 
commercial  tree  planting.  Considering  the  topic  from  this  stand- 
point, I think  it  may  well  be  made  the  starting  point  for  a 
brief  consideration  of  a point  of  view  which  it  seems  to  me  ought 
to  be  more  generally  understood  by  the  people  of  this  Territory, 
the  proposition  that  all  the  land  in  these  Islands  ought  to  be  used 
for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  best  adapted,  as  soon  as,  and  as  in- 
tensively as,  the  local  economic  conditions  warrant 
To  those  familiar  with  local  conditions  it  goes  without  saying 
that  certain  sections  are  better  adapted  to  given  crops  than  are 
others.  The  rubber  industry  is  a case  in  point.  Rubber  demands 
for  its  best  development  certain  conditions  of  soil,  moisture  and 
elevation  which  can  only  be  met  in  particular  districts.  The  same 
holds  true  of  other  industries.  In  a comparatively  new  country 
like  Hawaii  an  essential  need  is  for  a careful  classification  of  the 
arable  land.  One  of  the  essential  things  for  which  the  conserva- 
tion movement  stands  is  the  taking  of  stock.  In  Hawaii  no  more 
useful  piece  of  work  awaits  to  be  done  than  the  better  classification 
of  the  lands  of  the  Territory  capable  of  producing  agricultural 
crops.  But  to  do  this  work  systematically  and  on  a large  scale, 
requires  larger  funds  and  a stronger  public  backing  of  the  work 
than  now  exists.  It  therefore  becomes  the  duty  of  all  those  who 
see  clearly  the  necessity  for  such  an  investigation,  to  do  what  they 
can  toward  creating  the  public  sentiment  which  in  the  end  will 
