Soils of Palau — Vessel and Simonson 
295 
shown in Figure 2, this association has a 
total area of 7 square miles. 
2. Smooth Stony Land 
Smooth stony land is largely covered by 
limestone fragments or rubble, among which 
are small quantities of fine earth, usually 
phosphatic. For the most part, large lime- 
stone fragments are numerous enough on the 
surface so that a person can easily step from 
stone to stone. Pockets of soil material are 
commonly tiny but a few are as big as l/100th 
of an acre. The soil material is dark brown, 
friable, silt loam to loamy coarse sand and 
may reach depths of 10 inches in some pock- 
ets. As the name of the land type suggests, 
smooth stony land is nearly level or very 
gently sloping. It forms important parts of 
Angaur and Peleliu and has a total area of 
2Vi square miles. 
Most areas of smooth stony land are cov- 
ered by brush and small trees. Small clearings, 
usually a fraction of an acre in size, are made 
here and there in the forest for the planting 
of cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, and pa- 
payas. These may be planted separately or in 
mixtures, more often the latter. Individual 
clearings are usually abandoned to the forest 
again after a few crops have been produced. 
3. Limestone Outcrops 
This form of rock land, as its name sug- 
gests, comprises exposures of coralline lime- 
stone and rubble with little or no fine earth. 
The surface of the limestone is commonly 
pitted and pinnacled. Some soil material is 
present in small pockets and in crevices, gen- 
erally in handfuls. Present vegetation con- 
sists of small trees and shrubs. Limestone 
outcrop forms the islands of Urukthapel, Eil 
Malk, and Ngergoe (all of which lie between 
Koror and Peleliu and are not shown in Fig- 
ure 2); parts of Anguar, Auluptagel, Koror, 
and Peleliu; and the southern tip of Babel - 
thuap. It also forms a number of small un- 
named islands between Koror and Peleliu. 
This land type has a total area of 24 square 
miles, none of which is inhabited. 
4. Mangrove Swamp 
This miscellaneous land type comprises 
wooded coastal areas that are periodically 
flooded by salt or brackish water because of 
tides. The mangrove swamps occur along the 
coasts, on deltas, in embayments, and along 
the lower reaches of the streams. The main 
areas border the coast of Babelthuap and the 
eastern coast of Peleliu. Total area of man- 
grove swamp in the Palau Islands is slightly 
more than 14 square miles. 
AGRICULTURE 
Agricultural production in the Palau Is- 
lands in 1948 was of a subsistence type. The 
crops being grown were used as food for the 
families producing them. The main food 
crops were taro, cassava, and sweet potatoes. 
Production of these crops was by hand til- 
lage, a clear index to the prevailing level of 
agricultural technology. 
Crops 
Taro ( Colocasia esculenta), which yields an 
edible tuber, is produced mainly on Organic 
Soils and poorly-drained Alluvial Soils in the 
Palaus. It is also grown to a limited extent on 
Latosols, preferably on lower slopes where 
some seepage can be expected. Commonly 
grown with taro but on the outer margin of 
the paddies is a coarser plant ( Cyrtosperma 
chamissonis) which produces a large tuber 
eaten when the taro crop fails. Several large 
"elephant ear" varieties, identified by Fos- 
berg 6 as Xanthosoma violacea and Alocasia 
macrorrhiza , are grown occasionally on soils 
of the uplands. Like the Cyrtosperma in the 
paddies, these are also eaten only during se- 
vere food shortages. 
The second crop of importance is cassava 
(. Manihot utilissima ), called "tapico" by the 
Palauans. It commonly supplements and may 
replace taro in the diet. The crop was intro- 
duced during German ownership of the is- 
6 Personal communication, April 9, 1951. 
