46 
flourishes on such places and forms a mass of vegetation open at 
the top to receive rainfall and thick below to hold it, and a 
grass cover is certainly better than a bare surface for water 
conservation. 
Examination of many miles of country at Rotorua, New Zea- 
land, devasted and covered deep with mud by a volcanic eruption 
in 1886, and a small area mud covered in 1917, show conclu- 
sively that grasses first take up the desert country there and pre- 
pare the land for the forest that follows, in this instance the 
native *'toitoi" was the principal plant to come in first after 
the eruption. 
I disagree entirely with Mr. Judd in his condemnation of the 
staghorn fern, two of these, Gleichenia linearis and Gleichenia 
longissima, in conjunction with Sadleria ferns and leie vine are 
amongst our best forest covers on Lanai, if there is any advan- 
tage in competition it is on the side of the Sadleria and leie, the 
staghorn dies periodically in patches and trees and ferns come up 
in the humus and in turn crowd the staghorn, G. linearis and 
Scaevola cylindrocurpa make a complete balance in harmonious 
competition, at one time the staghorn being in evidence and an- 
other the Scaevola, the one in turn completely covering the 
other, but each holding its own, and meanwhile building up a mass 
of humus on the ground surface below. 
During the seventeen years the v/riter has been in charge in 
turn of the Molokai ranch and the Lanai forests, in conjunction 
with others interested, and the various foresters that have served 
the Territory, a continual search has been kept up for a suitable 
tree for exposed ridges where the native trees remain stunted, 
none seemed to fill the place until in 1919 the Norfolk Island 
pine was tried and it gives great promise even amongst staghorn 
fern and thick tree growth, the more dense the cover over it 
the greener it appears, though not a fast grower it is remarkably 
wind resistant and should be effective in time. The idea was 
taken from an old tree about 75' high and 3' in diameter five 
feet from the ground, growing at an elevation of 1,800'; this 
tree precipitates moisture in a shower during a fog when sur- 
rounding trees condense none to speak of. 
Has anyone got data on when these few very large Norfolk 
Island pines were brought to the Territory? And whether the 
New Zealand kauri pines were brought at the same time? As 
it seems to me probable that this kauri pine is an allied species 
to the New Zealand tree from Norfolk Island, where a fossil gum 
is obtained similar to New Zealand kauri gum, with 20 years ex- 
perience with the New Zealand kauri pine I cannot reconcile the 
trees at the nursery in Honolulu and at Ulupalakua with the New 
Zealand species, and if the same it is a remarkable instance of 
change under different environment. 
With apologies for asking for more space than is due me. 
' Yours truly, 
G. C. MUNRO. 
