GUAM AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 15 



yields of top growth which would supply the required forage high in 

 protein but also yields good returns of nuts which could bo advan- 

 tageously utilized as a hog feed. Field pumpkins have been grown 

 successfully at the station durmg the past fiscal year and the crop 

 produced was turned to good account as a stock feed. 



STUDIES OF GUAM KANGE PLANTS. 



GRASSES. 



The island of Guam with relation to its pasture conditions is natu- 

 rally separated into two divisions — the northern section, which is 

 covered with forests, and the southern section, consisting of an undu- 

 lating plain covered with uncultivated grasses. Many of the clear- 

 ings of the northern section are overgi'own with grasses and other 

 species constituting excellent pasturage, whUe in the forests are 

 found various shrubs and trees which also supply good, nutritious 

 feed. This section is, however, poorly watered during the dry sea- 

 son, and consequently all the largest cattle ranches are established 

 on the savannas of the south, where an abundant supply of water 

 is always available. One of the principal grasses of the savannas is 

 Miscanthus Jioridulus , a coarse woody swordgrass known by the na- 

 tive name of ''neti," which while young and tender furnishes good 

 pasturage, especially for carabao, but becomes coarse and fibrous in 

 the later stages of its growth. Along the river valleys and on the 

 lowlands fringing the coast Andropogon aciculatus is the most im- 

 portant species on the uncultivated range. This grass is called ^'ini- 

 fooc," or "inifuk," and is a splendid pasture grass, but has the dis- 

 advantage of being provided with adherent awns, which collect on 

 the clothing of those coming in contact with them. These awns also 

 pierce the legs of horses, causing, in the case of animals constantly 

 on pasture, sores which quickly mend when the animals are removed 

 to land free from this species. Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) is 

 also a good pasture grass where it grows on lowlands in more or less 

 close proximity to river courses and other sources of abundant mois- 

 ture. As a lawn grass, Bermuda has no equal in Guam, but it is 

 sometimes crowded out by Centella asiatica, a creeping weed of the 

 parsley family. Among the species which grow in the forests and 

 other locations rendered unsuitable for many grasses by a partial 

 shading of the soil are Centotheca latifolia, OplisTuenus compositus, and 

 Pollinia glahrata. The following alphabetically arranged list includes 

 all the species of the grass famUy included in the collection made by 

 this station in cooperation with the Philippine bureau of science. 

 (See also p. 20.) The list is known to be incomplete, and it is proba- 

 ble that a comparatively large number of grasses of the Guam flora 

 are unrepresented in our collection. 



