PREFACE. 



Mr. W. E. Safford, assistant botanist in the Department of Agri- 

 culture, for several years availed himself of the opportunity afforded 

 him as a lieutenant in the United States Navy to study and observe 

 the useful plants of the Tropics. In addition to cruises in other parts 

 of the world he visited, in 1886, 1887, 1894, and 1899, Upolu and 

 Tutuila of the Samoan group, and Oahu of the Hawaiian group; and 

 from August, 1899, to August, 1900, he acted as assistant governor of 

 the island of Guam. This paper has been prepared by Mr. Safford 

 through the recent elaboration of notes and observations made in those 

 years. While presented under the title "The Useful Plants of Guam," 

 it includes some reference, however brief, to every plant known to 

 occur on that island, particular note being made of those which have 

 been described from Guam by various writers as species new to sci- 

 ence. It discusses the principal plants used for food, fiber, oil, starch, 

 sugar, and forage in the Pacific tropical islands recently acquired by 

 the United States, and gives their common names not only in Guam 

 but in the Philippine Islands, Samoa, Hawaii, and Porto Rico. The 

 method of cultivating and propagating the more important species is 

 treated in considerable detail, as is the preparation of their derivative 

 products, such as arrowroot, copra, and cacao. The publication will 

 be useful to the rapidly increasing number of American travelers and 

 officers who wish to have in language of as little technicality as possi- 

 ble information about the economic plants of the world; and while the 

 author does not lay claim to more than a report on the island of Guam, 

 much of the information he gives is applicable throughout the Tropics. 



Besides consulting the original narratives of travelers, Mr. Safford 

 took advantage of his exceptional opportunities to study the archives 

 of Guam, and his account of the discovery, early history, and explo- 

 rations of the island, together with its climate, ethnology, and eco- 

 nomic conditions, will afford the most comprehensive and authentic 

 picture of Guam thus far published. 



The technical names of the plants have been critically scrutinized 

 by Mr. W. F. Wight, also assistant botanist in the Department of 



3G4008 3 



