Ig GUAM AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



turo fruit without causing permanent injury to the tree, but the 

 results indicate a tendency of this variety when inarched to early 

 bearing, and it is believed that trees thus propagated will fruit as soon 

 as they have size and strength suITicient to support a crop. A num- 

 ber of native laborers have been instructed in the methods of inarch- 

 int' and their training has enabled them to perform the operation 

 successfully. 



Several new varieties have been introduced within the past year. 

 These consist of the varieties Piri and Alphonse from Hawaii, and 

 Bennett Best, Red Number Eleven, Singapur, and Totafari from 



Florida. 



ABERIA GARDNERII. 



Six plants of this jelly plant were introduced from Florida and 

 planted at the station in 1911, and all but one plant, which w^as lost 

 through transplanting to a new location on the station grounds some 

 months later, have made rapid growth. Durmg the past year all 

 these plants have flowered profusely, but only one has set fruit 

 (PL IV, fig. 2). This one shrub has been remarkably prohfic, how- 

 ever, and two good crops, with another nearing maturity at the close 

 of the })eriod covered by this report, have been gathered from it 

 duruig the year. The first crop was harvested during the first w^eek 

 m January and the second crop of 417 fruits was gathered about the 

 middle of April. It is beheved that had not the fruit been tampered 

 •with by visitors the number would have exceeded 500 at pickmg time. 

 A limited supply of seedlings of this new fruit have been started and 

 will soon be available for distribution, though it is probable that 

 plants propagated from the fruiting specmien at the station by some 

 asexual method would return the best results. The above ])lants and 

 those of A. caffra were planted at the same time. Plants of the latter 

 species have not yet shown indications of fruiting. 



CITRUS FRUITS. 



The imported trees of the Mediterranean Sweet orange. Triumph 

 pomelo, and Eureka lemon have not given entire satisfaction, due, 

 it is believed, to unfavorable soil conditions of the tract upon which 

 they were grown. These trees were mtroduced from California 

 durmg the fiscal year 1910, and smce that time many of the trees have 

 been lost from a disease, probably ''gum disease," which is prevalent 

 among citrus trees throughout the island. The soil of the station is a 

 very heavy clay and has not adequate drainage for carrymg off the 

 excessive waters of the wet season. This condition is thought to have 

 rendered the disease more fatal than it would have been under more 

 favorable environments. The disease has attacked all species, bemg 





