124 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
cochleatum), and others prettily variegated with white (Aralia guil- 
foyler). Besides fruit trees, such as lemons, limes, pomegranates, 
soursops, and sugar apples, there are shrubs, vines, and trees prized 
for the fragrance of their flowers such as Lawsonia, Telosma (Pergu- 
laria), and ilangilane. 
Ranchos vary in size from simple huts, intended for the temporary 
shelter of one or two persons attending to adjoining patches of culti- 
vation, to well-built permanent dwellings large enough for a whole 
family. A platof ground after having been cultivated for four or five 
years is often abandoned and allowed to lie fallowa few years. Under 
these conditions it would not pay to erect permanent habitations on 
the mesa. The usual form of a small rancho is that of a shed with 
wills of woven reeds, coconut leaves, or split bumboos and a coconut- 
thatched roof with eaves projecting sufficiently to keep the rain from 
coming in through the cracks. Half the hut is taken up by a plat- 
form of split bamboo, raised about 2 feet from the ground. This is the 
family bed. Beneath it are penned up each night the youngest broods 
of chickens with their mothers, to protect them from rats, cats, and 
lizards, The larger fowls tly to the spreading limbs of a neighboring 
tree (the site fora rancho is always selected near a suitable roosting 
tree), or upon the ridge of the roof, or perhaps on some convenient 
perch in the hut itself, where there are always four or five setting hens 
in baskets hung on the posts. Sometimes the whole family remains 
at the rancho during the week, returning to town on Saturday so that 
their owners may be ready for early mass the next morning. On Sat- 
urday evening a procession of ox carts a mile long may be seen en 
route to the capital. 
They have little furniture. In homes of the better sort are usually 
found tables and benches of ifil wood, cane-bottomed beds, a few chairs, 
and almost invariably an altar with the image of a saint enshrined 
wbove it, before which a light of cocoanut oil is kept burning. A few 
homes have handsome beds, tables, and chairs from the Philippines 
left behind by Spanish officials. Homes of the poorer kinds are desti- 
tute of bedsteads or tables, the natives sleeping and sometimes eating 
from mats on the floor. 
USEFUL ARTS. 
Though it may be said that all the natives of Guam are essentially 
farmers, yet many of them show decided aptitude for various kinds 
of handiwork. In Agaia there are excellent blacksmiths, silversmiths, 
carpenters, cabinetmakers, tanners, and shoemakers, and fairly good 
masons. In other parts of the island there are men skilled in lime 
and charcoal burning. A number of the women are adepts at weaving 
mats and hats of excellent quality from pandanus leaves; men. twist 
string and make nets of pineapple fiber and ropes from hibiscus bark, 
