Ralph Hosmer

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Ralph S. Hosmer

Ralph Sheldon Hosmer (March 4, 1874 - ?) was Hawaii's first territorial forester.

1 Birth
2 Education
3 Work
4 Hosmer's Grove
5 Personal and Later Life
6 References

[edit] Birth

He was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts to the Unitarian minister Reverend George Herbert Hosmer and Julia West Sheldon Hosmer.

[edit] Education

Hosmer attended the Bussey Institution and the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University from Fall 1891 to June 1895, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Science. Later, in 1901-1902, he worked towards and received a Master's Degree in Forestry from Yale.

[edit] Work

From May 1896 to November 1898 Hosmer worked in the Division of Soils of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was transferred to the Division of Forestry as a Field Assistant, then as Chief, Section of Forest Replacement, until Fall 1903. He worked all over the country, in the New York Adirondacks to Maine to California. At this time, he became the Territorial Forester of the Territory of Hawaii. There, he worked for forest preservation, especially from fires and flooding.

[edit] Hosmer's Grove

Plants and animals that were brought to Hawaii by people are called "alien". The trees of Hosmer's Grove include pine, spruce, cedar and eucalyptus imported from all over the world. They were planted around 1910 by Ralph Hosmer as part of a forestry experiment. Most of the grasses seen in this area are also aliens that became established when cattle were grazed here.

Hosmer's plan for timber farming in Hawaii never worked out. Only 20 of the 86 species introduced there survived. Of these, some with shallow roots are blown down in storms. Some found the soil chemistry or fungi unsuitable for growth or reproduction. But others have thrived. Some trees have escaped from Hosmer's experimental forest. The Mexican Weeping pine, Monterey pine, and eucalyptus are aggressively seeding and must be constantly tended to prevent them from overrunning the natives.

[edit] Personal and Later Life

He was married on December 30, 1913 to Jessi Nash Irwin in Massachusetts. They had one son, two daughters, five grandsons and one granddaughter.

In 1914, Hosmer joined Cornell University as Professor of Forestry and Head of the Department of Forestry of the New York State College of Agriculture. He retired in June 1942.