186 THE PI.ANT WORLD 



moreover, a banana-like plant, Heliconia bihai, was cultivated by the 

 natives of the West Indies when Columbus came on the scene, and is now 

 found in a wild state in Polynesia. 



It seems that Old Caribbea (if we may coin a name for the region) 

 gave far more than it received agriculturally ; the main fruit of Polynesia, 

 the breadfruit, did not reach the " New " World until brought over by 

 Captain Bligh in 1793 ; but it is doubtful that any important plant was 

 introduced in the pre-Columbian era. The trend of the Pacific equatorial 

 currents may in part account for this — westwardness. The hand of 

 man must have been the instrument of this food-plant introduction into 

 Polynesia, for no root-cutting could withstand contact with salt water. 

 The cocoanut alone might have drifted with the currents. 



Native plant names are more numerous and are used with more 

 precision in Porto Rico than elsewhere in the West Indies ; this indicates 

 a strong agricultural proclivity ; indeed, the aboriginal name of the 

 Island, "Borinquen," signified "strong man of the soil," and the 

 piratic cannibal Caribs contemptuously called the inhabitants ' ' Arawaks, ' ' 

 or "eaters of meal." 



Settlements of savages were necessary before civilization could begin ; 

 i. e. , the tribe must needs have time and place to rest and think in order 

 to progress. A permanent food supply from cultivated, or at least 

 protected, crops was necessary to settlements. From the great number 

 of food-plants which Old Caribbea gave the world, and from many other 

 signs which come to us out of those misty and most ancient times, it is 

 more than probable that that region was the birthplace of the most 

 important science in the history of the world. 



But I wonder what the citizens of the lower layers of old Nippur 

 thought about it ? 



Moles in the Lawn. — It not infrequently happens that a fine lawn is 

 more or less disfigured by the work of moles. Many devices have been 

 proposed to rid the land of these pests, some of which work fairly well 

 while others are complete failures. One of the best and most effective 

 means of getting rid of them is to arm one's self with a pitchfork and 

 watch for a movement of the surface of the ground, when it is no trouble 

 to kill the mole with a few quick thrusts of the fork. Moles appear to 

 be most active during the middle of the day, and if a person be stationed 

 on an infected lawn about noon, preferably of a bright day, they will 

 soon be seen disturbing the surface and can be dispatched without other- 

 wise opening the ground. It will rarely be found that more than three 

 or four individuals are working in a single lawn, although the amount of 

 depredation may seem to imply the presence of a large number, f. h. k. 



