EDIBLE CANNA IN WAIMEA DISTRICT OF HAWAII 
11 
EXPERIMENTS WITH EDIBLE CANNA 
Experiments were made to determine the best types of rootstocks 
to use for planting, the effect of preliminary treatment to prevent rot- 
ting of the seed, the depth of planting, the number of seed to plant 
per hill, the feasibility of mulching with canna tops, the time of 
applying fertilizer, and the best age at which to harvest the crop. 
The crop occupied 34 plats, comprising a total of 4.8 acres of land. 
The experiments were begun in July, 1924, on homestead No. 98, 
where the soil is deep, porous, and representative of the best in 
Waimea. A good windbreak protects the crop from the trade 
winds. The field was inspected September 4, and the percentage of 
nongermination was determined for each plat. The misses were 
replaced in all instances except on the plats used for rootstock- 
selection tests, for which acre yields were computed from the actual 
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Fig. 6. — Combination windbreak of eucalyptus and Monterey cypress. The cypress is sufficiently 
high to permit removal of the eucalyptus 
number of hills dug. The crop was harvested between March 22 
and March 30, 1926, 20.5 months after planting. Visits were made 
to the plats at intervals of two months, notes were taken on general 
growth, and some individual hills were dug to study the progressive 
development of the plant. 
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION 
In a previous bulletin (9) a description of the nature of growth of 
edible canna was given, together with a brief outline of the methods 
of investigation devised to study the progressive growth of the hill. 
Since these methods have been found useful in the present investi- 
gation a somewhat detailed discussion is included. 
GENEALOGIZATION 
In this study the hill was carefully dug to remove the entire clump 
of rootstocks unbroken. The clump was then carefully broken in half 
to locate the original seed and the rootstock or rootstocks directly 
