GUAM AGRICULTURAL EXPERIIMENT STATION. 13 



tioned in a preceding jjage of this report, greater success has attended 

 this work during the past year than during any similar period in 

 the short history of the station. Vegetables have almost without ex- 

 ception produced better yields and the product has generally shown 

 an improvement in quality. These results were, however, to be ex- 

 pected, as the station soil was previously in very poor condition, 

 and due allowance was given in case of numerous failures attributed 

 to this cause. 



In the last annual report of this i^tation reference was made to a 

 defoliating caterpillar which attacked and destroyed the leaves of 

 garden beets, causing almost a. complete failure of this vegetable. 

 During the past j^ear successive plantings were made with the hope 

 of discovering some season for the development of the beet during 

 Avhich no brood of this lepidopterous larva is present. The work 

 has not resulted in complete success, though a planting made on 

 March 29 has been less seriously affected than any crop previously 

 grown at the station. Many of the beets grown from this drilling 

 had at the close of the fiscal year attained the dimensions of from 

 1| to 3 inches in diameter, and were suitable for table use, being as 

 sweet and tender as could be desired. This crop js the only one that 

 has not been entirely destroyed b}^ the ravages of the caterpillar, and 

 this one sustained considerable injury from the same insect. Beets 

 have generalh' made rapid and vigorous growth while clean of pests. 

 and it is believed that with these enemies controlled it would prove 

 an entirely successful crop. The entomologist has reared the moth 

 from this caterpillar and found it to be the beet webworm, Hymenia 

 fasciali&} 



PATOLA. 



This edible dishcloth gourd, Luff a a^gyptiaca^ has been introduced 

 and grown at the station with the most satisfactory results during 

 the past year. The species was more or less common during the 

 Spanish regim.e; but it had become almost if not entirely extinct 

 on the island. It is prized by the natives of Guam, and is cooked and 

 served with meats, soups, and stews. The seed employed in our work 

 was obtained from Manila, and the quantity received was sufficient 

 to allow a limited amount for distribution. 



ONIONS. 



Much difficulty has been met in our attempts to gi-ow onions from 

 the seed, owing to the seeming impossibility of storing the seed and 

 preserving its vitality in the humid atmosphere of Guam. A lot of 

 seed obtained and planted under otherwise favorable conditions 13 



1 This species is discussed somewhat in detail by H. O. Marsh, with full consideration 

 of remedies, in U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Ent. Bui. 109, pt. 1. 



