150 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
and wild rats. The third species furnishes leaves which, when young 
and tender, are cooked with vegetables asa flavoring. The fourth spe- 
cies Is called ‘aggag.” Its leaves are remarkably strong and pliable. 
They are used for lashing together the parts of a house or hut and for 
string; and when divided into narrow ribbons they are braided into 
hats, sleeping mats, mats upon which corn and other seed are dried, 
and bags for holding corn and rice. Only one sex of this plant occurs 
in Guam. It is propagated by cuttings, limbs when cut off taking 
root readily in almost any kind of soil. The leaves of the other spe- 
cles are inferior and are scarcely at all used. 
A coarse kind of mat is made by weaving or wattling the stems of a 
reed which grows in marshy places (Zrichoon rowburghi/), called “ kar- 
riso” by the natives. These mats are often used to cover the walls 
of lightly constructed houses and are sometimes coated with a kind of 
clay. 
THATCH PLANTS.—The majority of houses in Guam are thatched with 
coconut leaves, but those of the better class with the leaves of Vypa 
fruticans, an interesting trunkless palm introduced from the Philip- 
pines, which has established itself at the mouth of every stream of 
importance in the island. When there is a dearth of coconuts and 
nipa, sword-grass, or “neti” (V/phagrostis floridula), is used, 
Coconut leaves to be used for thatching are gathered, dried and split 
down the midrib, the two halves being placed together in reverse 
direction and the leaflets interwoven diagonally. Women are usually 
employed inthis work. Leaves thus prepared are lashed to the frame- 
work of the roof with strips of pandanus leaves, beginning at the 
vuves and ending at the ridgepole, the leaves being placed so close 
together that they form a thick imbricating thatch. Coconut thatch 
is not very durable. Asa rule it lasts only three or four years. 
In preparing the leaves of the nipa palm the leaflets are detached 
from the midrib or rachis, cured by drying, and attached to reeds in 
the form of a fringe. These are laid on the timbers of the roof frame 
in the same way as the coconut leaves, but closer together. Neti is 
prepared in the same way. The thatch thus formed is more homo- 
geneous, compact, waterproof, and durable than the former. 
FORAGE PLANTS. 
As garden patches are not inclosed, cattle, horses, buffalo, and pigs 
van not be allowed to run at large. They are kept tethered and conse- 
quently require to be cared for, fed, and watered. Often the avail- 
able pasturage in the vicinity of a town or village is exhausted and it 
is necessary to take the animals a considerable distance before a good 
grazing place can be found. Usually forage is gathered and brought 
to the animals. Besides several species of grasses the best forage plant 
is the breadfruit (Avtocurpus conn ix), great quantities of the leaves 
