518 MacCauGHEY: GUAVAS OF HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 
little wayside Chinese shop carries a stock of guava jelly. An 
excellent grade of jelly is made by the American preserving firms 
for local use and for export to the mainland. However, the 
manufacture of guava jelly is not as important an industry in 
Hawaii as it is in many other tropical countries, such as the West 
Indies, South America, and India. ‘‘Goiabada’’ is made and 
sold in large quantities in Brazil; it is a thick guava jam. A 
similar stiff paste is sold in the West Indies and Florida as ‘‘ guava 
cheese.’’ Guavas are offered for sale in the various local island 
markets, and in Honolulu are peddled from door to door by the 
Portuguese children, who gather the wild fruit. The wide range 
of guavas in the dietary of white people living in the tropics is 
well indicated by reference to standard Honolulu cookbooks,* 
where many recipes are given. 7 
In the Hawaiian Islands the guava is so common as a weed 
of the roadsides and wastelands that little attention is given to 
its culture. Dependence is placed upon the abundant supply of 
wild fruit, rather than upon planted trees. In India, the West 
Indies, and other countries where this species is not so abundant, 
the trees are easily raised from seed. The seedlings are trans- 
planted when two or three years old, and bear fruit one or two 
years after planting. Occasionally a plant will bear fruit the 
second year from seed, but this is unusual. The prolific produc- 
tion of root-sprouts has been mentioned; this habit affords a 
very easy method of propagating the plant. 
The guava is used in parts of India for dyeing. By boiling 
the leaves and bark with certain other plants, a black color is 
obtained, and used for dyeing yarn or cloth. The leaves, either 
alone or with mango leaves, are used by the poorer classes for 
tanning. Astringency is a characteristic property of the plant, 
and the roots, leaves and fruits are utilized medicinally for 
diarrhoea, scurvy, and similar ailments. The leaves are com- 
monly used in India in the preparation of poultices. 
Guava wood is whitish or pale yellowish, moderately hard, 
even- and close-grained, and weighs about 42 Ibs. to the cubic foot. 
It works easily and smoothly, and takes a beautiful polish. In 
© example, Turner, Jessie C., & Alexander, Agnes B. How to use 
Hawstan fruits, 30-34. Honolulu. 1g1o0. 
