382 VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. [1840. 



ries. The ti (dracasna) has been found very useful for 

 hedges, as the bushes will grow closely matted together. 

 The tacca grows wild in considerable abundance, vet there is 

 comparatively but little arrow-root manufactured. 



Bananas, melons, pine-apples, grapes, figs, plantains, ros i 

 apples (eugenia), yams, and other rich fruits and vegetables, 

 are raised in great variety. The sweet potatoes produced 

 here are unusually fine ; they are like the delicious amor- 

 phous yams of the West Indies, and of every shade of color, 

 from dark purple to red, green, or yellow. Irish potatoes 

 have been acclimated and succeed well. Indian corn is ex- 

 tensively cultivated. The coffee bush, and the indigo and 

 cotton plant, are admirably adapted to the soil and climate, 

 and come forward vigorously, with very little trouble or at- 

 tention. The same may be said of the sugar-can- . 

 plantations of which can be seen on the alluvial flats in all 

 the principal islands. Thirteen varieties of the taro are cul- 

 tivated, both on the uplands, and in low wet places. Ti 

 are more plentiful in the latter, and the wide green pat< 

 are the most conspicuous objects to be seen along the .--' i 

 of the islands. This plant requires a great quantity <■ 

 ture, and the land where it is grown is frequently in 

 during the dry weather, — the wafer being pumped fr< 

 ponds and reservoirs by means of windmills. 



The black mulberry is a native of the islands. Several 

 years since an extensive silk plantation was established by a 



my of foreigners, on the island of Kauai, and quanti 

 ofth mortis ra and morus alba were imported, and 



set out With the native mulberry. The trees grew with ex- 

 traordinary vi i luxuriance, and the morns multicaulis 

 was subsequently introduced. Some difficulty was experi- 

 enced in acclimating the cocoons, but on crossing the Ameri- 

 •an breed with the Chinese, everything promised well. 

 Machinery was now constructed, and steam power provided. 

 But the sanguine expectations of the projectors of this enter- 

 prise were doomed to a sudden disappointment. In 1840 a 

 severe drought oame on ; the trees at once began to wither; 



