EDIBLE CANNA IN WAIMEA DISTRICT OF HAWAII 5 
Table 3 shows that the Waimea district has the same uniformity 
of t temperature throughout the year that is characteristic of the 
Hawaiian Islands as a whole. The 10-year average for February, 
the coldest month, was but 4.7° F. less than that for September, the 
warmest month. The greatest annual departure from the normal 
was 0.8° F. 
SOILS 
The soils of the Waimea district, being of a porous nature, offer strik- 
ing contrast to the exceedingly heavy soils of the majority of the 
lower lying sugar-cane and pineapple lands of the islands (5, p. 83-35). 
Mechanical analyses of the heavy types show a clay content ranging 
usually from 10 to as high as 58 per cent and correspondingly high 
amounts of fine silt and silt fractions, but negligible amounts of coarse 
sand or fine gravel. The heavy soils pack with rocklike hardness, 
can be plowed only with difficulty, and puddle if plowed or cultivated 
when they are too wet. In the Waimea district the soils are light, 
fluffy, and deep and can be easily plowed with an ordinary mold- 
board plow and light team. Such soils show little tendency to pack 
and do not puddle when worked during wet weather. 
Table 4 gives the analyses of soils of the Waimea district. 
Table 4. — Analyses of soils of the Waimea-Puukayu, Waikii, and Makahalau 
sections 
Constituent 
Waimea- 
Puukapu Waikii ; Makahalau 
section; section; 1 section; 1 
soil No. 474 soil No. 76 soil No. 468 
Water 
Volatile matter 
Insoluble residue 
Ferric oxide (Fe203) 
Alumina (AI2O3) 
Titanium oxide (Ti0 2 ) 
Manganese oxide (MnsOi). 
Lime (CaO) 
Magnesia (MgO) 
Potash (K2O) 
Soda (NaaO) 
Phosphoric acid (PjOs) 
Sulphur trioxide (SO3) 
Nitrogen (N) 
Clay 
Fine silt 
sat 
Fine sand 
Coarse sand 
Fine gravel 
Per cent 
J 13. 59 
20.01 
33.77 
7.00 
16.79 
1.80 
.07 
3.80 
.85 : 
.72 ! 
.10 ! 
2.18 I 
.45 : 
.65 
»5.24 
24.20 
18. 00 
30.70 
3.43 { 
Per cent 
Per cent 
1 33. 85 
i 11. 52 
11.79 
18.92 
32.17 
44.06 
8.36 
8.80 
11.25 
8.93 
2.00 
.02 
.14 
1.54 
2.32 
.87 
1.42 
.13 
.22 
.28 
.33 
.17 
.86 
.18 
.36 
.18 
.64 
«3.55 
1 Waikii and Makahalau are located on the slopes of Mauna Kea, approximately 10 miles across the plains 
from the Homestead tract. Because of their altitudes (3,500 to 4,500 feet) they are subject to killing frosts 
in the winter. The analyses of the soils of these two districts are given because of the similarity in origin 
with those of Waimea proper where canna is being grown. 
» (5, p. SO). « (7, p. 6). * (5, p. S3). 
Table 4 shows that the soil of the Homestead tract and Waikii 
district is rather low in clay, a large portion of the soil being distrib- 
uted between the fine-silt, silt, and fine-sand fractions. 
In a comparison of the physical properties of a number of soil types 
of Hawaii, McGeorge (6) found that the Waimea soils have the lowest 
real and apparent specific gravity, the greatest papillary rise, are 
among the lowest in rate of{percolation, and require the highest per- 
centage of water to fill the interstitial spaces. 
