Our Smallest Possession 



2 37 



i,ooopesos. The greater part of this 

 was absorbed by the rector, who was 

 usually the priest stationed at Agana, 

 and by the running expenses of the 

 school, which were the subsistence and 

 wages paid to janitor, porter, steward, 

 doctor, and the lighting of the building. 



The people are essentially agricult- 

 ural. There are few masters and few 

 servants on the island. As a rule the 

 farms are not too extensive to be culti- 

 vated by the family, all of whom, even 

 the little children, lend a hand. Often 

 the owners of neighboring farms work 

 together in communal fashion, one day 

 on A's corn, the next day on B's, and 

 so on, laughing, singing, and skylark- 

 ing at their work and stopping when- 

 ever they feel so inclined to take a drink 

 of tuba from a bamboo vessel hanging 

 to a neighboring cocoanut tree. Each 

 does his share without constraint, nor 

 will he indulge so freely in tuba as to 

 incapacitate himself for work, for ex- 

 perience has taught the necessity of 

 temperance, and every one must do his 

 share if the services are to be reciprocal. 

 In the evening they separate, each going 

 to his own rancho to feed his bullock, 

 pigs, and chickens. After a good sup- 



per they lie down for the night on a 

 pandanus mat spread over an elastic 

 platform of split bamboo. 



None of the natives depends for his 

 livelihood on his handiwork or on trade 

 alone. There are men who can make 

 shoes, tan leather, and cut stone for 

 building purposes, but such a thing as 

 a Chamorro shoemaker, tanner, stone 

 mason, or merchant who supports his 

 family by his trade is unknown. In the 

 midst of building a stone wall the man 

 who has consented to help do the work 

 will probably say, " Excuse me, Senor, 

 but I must go to my rancho for three or 

 four days; the weeds are getting ahead 

 of my corn. ' ' And when lime is needed 

 the native to whom one is directed may 

 say, "After I have finished gathering 

 my cocoanuts for copra I will get my 

 boys to cut wood and gather limestone 

 to make a kiln. Never fear, Senor, you 

 shall have your lime within six weeks. ' ' 

 On one occasion a blacksmith was de- 

 layed two weeks in making a plow owing 

 to the fact that the man from whom he 

 got his charcoal had been so busy sup- 

 plying visiting vessels with fruits and 

 vegetables that he could not find time to 

 burn it. 



THE MILCH GOAT 



THE Department of Agriculture 

 has been so successful in its 

 experiment of introducing the 

 beautiful Angora goat into this country, 

 by means of which an industry worth 

 several million dollars has been created, 

 that it is now trying to arouse an inter- 

 est in the milch goat. Every traveler in 

 Europe is familiar with the sturdy little 

 animal, which does not hesitate to climb 

 to the attic of a dwelling and when sev- 

 eral stories up allow itself to be milked. 

 It is estimated that Germany owns 

 about 3,000,000 of these animals, that 



they are worth about $12,000,000, and 

 yield milk and kids each year worth 

 $36,000,000, or three times their origi- 

 nal value. 



A good goat gives four or five quarts 

 of milk daily. It can eat many kinds of 

 herbage, so that its keep is not a diffi- 

 cult nor expensive problem. The milk 

 is believed to be richer and freer of tu- 

 berculosis than cow's milk, and if kept 

 clean is not odorous. Families living in 

 crowded suburbs may find a solution of 

 the milk problem in keeping milch 

 goats. 



