During the visit of a well-known Hawaiian to Mexico many years ago, his attention was attracted by a beautiful shrub that he thought would make a splendid hedge around his home. It grew about five feet in height and its foliage was of a rich green, with a brown, red and yellow flower. The slips he brought to Honolulu thrived wonderfully and cuttings of the plant were taken to the other islands for a like purpose. Wherever planted it grew amazingly fast. It quickly spread over the hillsides and became so dense that cattle could not penetrate the thickets formed by it. It made valueless large areas of land that formerly had been used for the pasturing of cattle and plantation stock, and reduced the grazing area at an alarming rate. Land that adjoined the plantations and that in the course of time became needed for plantation purposes was also over-run by it. The curtailment of the grazing lands and the increased cost of clearing were so great that the entomologists were finally sent for and asked if they could not eradicate the trouble. After a careful investigation they went to Mexico, whence the lantana, as the shrub is called, had come. On their return journey they brought back with them a fly. The fly laid its eggs in the bud of the lantana, and when the young flies were hatched they fed upon the lantana seeds. The flies multiplied rapidly and soon made away with the seeds, thus preventing the shrub from spreading any further. When it was once cleared from the land or the plantation it did not reappear. These illustrations demonstrate the fact that the culture of sugar cane involves a constant struggle between science and unrestrained nature. As a rule, Hawaiian sugar plantations are located close to the seacoast, between it and the base of the mountains. The lands slope gently toward the sea, thus insuring good drainage and easy application of water for irrigation. Most of the cane is grown on land less than five hundred feet above sea-level, although in a few rare instances it is cultivated at an elevation as great as three thousand feet. Parts of the leeward side of the islands, where it is extremely dry and hot, and where the cane thrives best, depend entirely on irrigation, the water being brought to the plantations by ditches or pumped from wells. On the windward side of the island of Hawaii, where the rainfall is abundant, irrigation is unnecessary except during very dry periods. In cultivating, the ground is turned with steam ploughs to depths up to twenty-four inches. These ploughs are operated by powerful engines that work in pairs, one on each side of a field, usually from one thousand to fifteen hundred feet apart. One engine pulls a gang-plough across the field and the other draws it back. By this method the rich soil is thoroughly loosened and a wonderful vegetable growth results. Ordinarily in California the farmer ploughs only from four to six inches deep. [Illustration: STEAM PLOUGH] [Illustration: PLANTING CANE]