INTRODUCED PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 269 



Pomegranates. 



Pomegranates""* are grown thronghoiil the islands in i:;ii-(lciis. re ;is oi-na- 



ments than for the frnit. Their bnshy growth and awl-like spine.s and narrow, 

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

 with a bright, smooth, yellow, red-blushed rind and n ]ir<pminent crown-like calyx. 

 The interior consists of a number of seeds enveloped in a bright erinistjn-eolored 

 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 Carthagenians 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 vai'iet\' that is 

 quite popular as an ornamental plant. 



We could extend the list of fruits and fruit-like ])roducts indefinitely. 

 The lichi ^^ of China ; the mangosteens ^^ of China ; the water-melon ^- of AfricM ; 

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

 are all to hv seen among the fruits in the Honohdu markets. Tn 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 numlier of the rarer fruits receive bi'ief notice in the inde,\. 



CHAPTER XX. 



AGRICULTURE IN HAWAII: ITS EFFECT ON PLANT AND ANI.MAL 



LIFE. 



The remarkable agricultural transformation of the Hawaiian Islands, troia 

 the time when taro-growing 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 lieen, and doubtless 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 prosi)erity and wealtli, 

 a brief account of the natural, as distinguished from the connnei-cial histoid' of 

 some of the industries, at least will not l)e ont of ])lace here. 



Agriculture in Recent Ti.mes. 



Our present interest in the sul)ject, liowever, comes mainly from the fact; 

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



*" Punica Qraiuiftnn. ••" Nrphciiiim Litrlii. 



^^ (iarciiiid iiiinii/ostdtia from Sumatra; also llic more coiinnon (iarcinia .i(nith(ir)i i/iiiiik from India. 



^"Citrullus riil(/(iris. ^^ Cuciimus Mflo. "■* Opuntia 'I'liiui. 



