A few extensive plantations of trees have been made, notably by Captain Makee on Maui, who has set out a large number of Australian gum trees.

The universal habit of letting cattle run abroad, and the dearness of lumber for fencing, discourages tree planting, which yet will be found some day one of the most profitable investments in the islands, I believe; and I was sorry to see in many places cocoa-nut groves dying out of old age and neglect, and no young trees planted to replace them.
It remains to describe to you the "contract labor" system by which the sugar-plantations are carried on.

This has been frequently and, as it seems to me, unjustly abused as a system of slavery.

The laborers hire themselves out for a stated period, usually, in the case of natives, for a year, and in the case of Chinese for five years.

The contract runs in English and in Hawaiian or Chinese, and is sufficiently simple.