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As
he started out on the job, I sat down with him and showed him the record book
that had been kept by one of our former nurserymen, Kazuo Tamura. Kazuo had
worked for 40 years, dating back to the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late
1930s, and had acquired an impressive amount of knowledge and experience. Much
of this knowledge was contained in his record book. It had columns for species,
seed source, seed treatment, soils or other amendments used, time to germinate,
percent of seeds that germinated, potting and transplanting data, and other
information. We made improvements to this format and started Richard out.
We were growing trees for out-planting on Kaho'olawe, native plants for various
projects, and ornamentals for Arbor Day and some for planting in our forest
reserves. Some of these plants were being grown from cuttings. I am happy to
say that quite a fw native trees ended up here at Fleming Arboretum. I met
Martha in the 1970s, when she came to our office and laid out her dreams of
resurrecting her grandfather's Pu'u Mahoe Arboretum with native plants from
Auwahi forest. I was impressed by her commitment and energy. This began a
collaborative and cordial relationship that continues to this day.
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