IXTRODIT'ED PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 269 



POMEGKANATES. 



Pomegrauates *'■' are grown throughoiit the islands in gardens, more as orna- 

 ments than for the fruit. Their bnshy growth and awl-like spines antl narrow, 

 glossy-green leaves, with red petioles, make it •conspicuous. The fruit is globular 

 with a bright, smooth, yellow, red-blushed rind and a prominent crown-like calyx. 

 The interior consists of a number of seeds enveloped in a bright crimson-colored 

 pulp; the seeds being crowded into several segments. The cooling, astringent 

 juice of the pulp is enjoyed by many. The pomegranate, a native of Asia, is 

 supposed to have been introduced into southern Europe by the Carthageuians at 

 a very early date, and has from there been widely distributed. There are sev- 

 eral varieties grown in Hawaii, among them a double flowering variety that is 

 quite popular as an ornamental plant. 



We could extend the list of fruits and fruit-like products indefinitely. 

 The lichi ^o of China ; the mangosteens ^'^ of China ; the water-melon ■"'- of Africa ; 

 the musk-melon °^ of southern Asia ; the fruit of the prickly-pear ^* from Mexico, 

 are all to be seen among the fruits in the Honolulu markets. In fact, a list 

 enumerating considerably over one hundred well-defined species of fruits oc- 

 curring in Hawaii has been prepared, and it is safe to assume it could easily be 

 extended; a number of the rarer fruits receive brief notice in the index. 



CHAPTER XX. 



AGRICULTURE IN HAWAII: ITS EFFECT ON PLANT AND AXDIAL 



LIFE. 



The remarkable agricultural transformation of the Hawaiian Islands, fmni 

 the time when taro-growiug was the chief occupation of the primitive inhabi- 

 tants, to the present, when the growing of sugar-cane is the dominant in- 

 dustry of the land, furnishes a story filled with facts of the greatest interest. 

 The account of this transition, however, would come more properly within the 

 scope of a political and industrial history of Hawaii. Nevertheless, agriculture, 

 in the broad sense, is a natural employment, having to do with plants and ani- 

 mals. It has been, and do\ibtless will always continue to be, the chief vocation 

 of the people of the islands, and as agriculture and the occupations growing out 

 of its practice will long continue to be the main source of prosperity and wealth, 

 a brief account of the natural, as di.stinguished from the commercial history of 

 some of the industries, at least will not be out of place here. 



AcjHKTLTrRE IX Recent Times. 



Our present interest in the subject, however, comes mainly from the fact 

 that the phenomenal develoiunent of agriculture in Hawaii in recent times has 



*® Punica Gravatum. ^^ Nrpkeliitm Litrhi. 



^'^ Garciiiia manffostana from Sumatra: also the more comnum Giirriiiin xftnthm-h nmtis from Indiu. 



^^Citrullus vulgaris. ^^ Qucnmus Melo. '■* Opuntia Tuna. 



