AGRICULTURE. 143 
the southern part of the island; and /r/t7¢ ti//aceum, which furnishes 
the natives with cordage. Besides these a number of plants of minor 
importance have escaped from cultivation and are spreading over the 
island, such as the guava, the bullock’s heart, the orange berry, /the- 
colobinin dulce, which yields fine tan bark, and Biancaca sappan, which 
is important as a dyewood. 
CULTIVATED FOOD AND STIMULANT PLANTS. 
GARDEN PLANTs.—In addition to their small farms nearly all the 
natives of Guam have a town house. Adjacent to many of these are 
gardens in which grow perennial eggplants, red peppers, bananas, 
plantains, various kinds of beans, squashes, gourds, watermelons, 
melons, peanuts, tomatoes of a small and inferior kind, balsam pears, 
mustard, and perhaps yams and a few vines of betel pepper. Among 
the fruit trees in gardens the most common are lemons, limes, the 
sugar apple, and the soursop. Pomegranates are grown more for orna- 
ment than for use, although avery refreshing drink is made from the 
acidulous pulp surrounding their seed. In some of the gardens giant 
taro (Alocasia) is grown for the sake of its leaves, which are used 
instead of paper for wrapping up meat and fish. Banana and plantain 
leaves deprived of their stiff midrib are used for the same purpose, 
and for cordage strings are stripped from their stem, or the leaves of 
the textile Pandanus are used, a plant of which is sometimes grown 
in the garden for convenience. Radishes, onions, garlic, and lettuce 
are sometimes planted, but they do not thrive. (See under Gardens 
in catalogue. 
Crrrkats.— The only cereals cultivated in Guam are rice and maize. 
The natives cultivated rice in considerable quantities before the dis- 
covery. It was among the supplies furnished to Magellan and 
Legazpi. The Dutch navigators, who came after them in 1600 and 
1621, complained that the bales were increased in weight by the addi- 
tion of sand and stones. These bales weighed on an average from 70 
to 80 pounds. 
At present not sufficient rice is grown on the island for the use of 
the natives, though there are several localities well suited for its cul- 
ture. The methods followed are very much like those of the Filipinos. 
Buffaloes are used for plowing. The plow is of wood with an iron 
point, usually fashioned by the blacksmith of Guam out of an old gun 
barrel. It has but one handle. Many of the best rice growers on the 
island within recent years have been Filipinos. At present rice is 
imported from Japan, Manila, and the United States. This would not 
be necessary if a little greater effort were made on the part of the 
planters. As arule, they plant only enough for their own use and do 
not lay by a surplus. The result is that when the crop is ruined by : 
hurricane or a drought, which not infrequently happens, there is a 
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