EDIBLE CANNA IX VVAIMEA DISTRICT OF HAWAII 
23 
in furrows and hilled in gradually, produced the highest yield and 
the largest and best preserved rootstocks. The strong winds of the 
Waimea district frequently blow over the succulent stalks of the 
canna plant and in so doing break the rootstoek. Hilling-in suffi- 
ciently covered the rootstoek- to save them from damage 1 by the 
winds, which broke the stalks instead of the rootstocks. The same 
was true of plat No. 21 to a lesser extent. Plat No 23 was superior 
in point of germination and yield to plat No. 24. In the latter plat 
the seed was planted close to the surface of the soil and germinated 
more slowly and with greater susceptibilitv to rot than was the case 
with plat No. 23. 
Furrow planting is advantageous in preserving canna rootstocks, 
but the method is hardly feasible for the Waimea district. Not only 
are the furrows difficult to maintain in the loose soils of the district, 
but cross cultivation is impossible. This proves a serious disad- 
vantage where hand weeding is expensive. It seems, therefore, that 
level culture, placing the top of the seed at least 4 inches below the 
soil surface, is the best method for the Waimea district. 
NUMBER OF "SEED" PER HILL 
The present local practice is to plant two or more seed pieces in 
the hill in the hope of increasing yield and eliminating the necessity 
of replanting. To determine the effect on yield of planting a num- 
ber of mill-run seed in the hill, several plats were planted with one 
to four seeds per hill. The seed was set 4 by 4 feet apart, and the 
resulting crop was dug at 20 months. Table 10 gives the results of 
the experiment. 
Table 10. — Effect of number of seed per hill on germination and yield of canna 
Plat No. 
Area of 
plats 
Number 
of seed 
per hill 
Propor- 
tion of 
seed 
failing to 
germinate 
Gross 
yield of 
root- 
stocks 
per acre 
Net yield 
of root- 
stocks 
per acre 
Average 
weight 
per root- 
stock 
10 . 
Acre 
0.10 
.10 
.10 
.10 
.05 
.05 
1 
2 
3 
4 
Per cent 
15.0 
2.7 
16.2 
1.9 


Tons 
35.2 
42.1 
38.8 
45.0 
38.4 
43.9 
Tons 
31.6 
37.7 
34.7 
40.3 
34.4 
39.3 
Pound 
0.55 
11 
.58 
18 
19 
9a i 
.72 
9b » 
.01 
Plats Nos. 9a and 9b were planted seven weeks after the other plats in the area of plat No. 9 in which 
the seed failed to germinate in the seed-selection experiment. 
Planting two or more seed to the hill reduced the percentage of 
nongermination to practically nil. The two-seed plantings yielded 
at the rate of 6.1 and 5.6 tons, respectively, greater than the corres- 
ponding one-seed plantings. The three and four-seed plantings, 
which are seven weeks younger, made practically the same yields as 
the one and two-seed plantings, respectively. It is doubtful whether 
the three and four-seed plantings would have greatly exceeded the 
one and two-seed plantings had they been allowed to grow another 
seven weeks. 
The results would seem to show the superiority of the two-seed 
planting over one-seed planting. From the standpoint of yield, 
however, the advantages are small, since the additional seed weighs 
