esembling, but
much superior to, apple butter.

The Guava (Psidium Guayava) grows wild in all parts of the Islands
below 3000 feet. The fruit, of which there is a great abundance, is
made into jam and the very finest jelly in the world. In the fruiting
season large quantities of the jelly can be made, and without doubt,
exported at a profit.

The Poha (Physalis edulis) is a quick growing shrub bearing a berry that
makes excellent jelly and jam. The shrub grows wild on elevations
between 1000 and 4000 feet. A patch of pohas planted in a corner of a
garden, will grow and yield a bountiful supply of fruit almost without
cultivation.

Pineapples are at home on these Islands; a small plot planted with the
best varieties of this king of fruits will keep the table supplied the
year round.

Another valuable fruit indigenous to this country is the Papaia (Carica
papaya). This fine fruit can be raised in enormous quantities and is a
most fattening food for pigs and chickens. The tree fruits in eight or
nine months from the seed, and thence forward for years it yields ripe
fruit every month in the year. The fruit is of the size of a small
melon and is very rich in sugar. The unripe fruit contains a milky juice
that, even when diluted with water, renders any tough meat, that is
washed in it, quite tender. A small piece of the unripe fruit placed in
the water in which meat or tough chicken is boiled makes it tender and
easily digestible.

A very valuable food plant, indigenous to these Islands, is the taro
(Colocasia esculenta). The variety known as dry land taro will grow on
land that is moist enough for the coffee trees. The taro is a grand food
plant, the tubers containing more nutriment for a given weight than any
other vegetable food. The young tops when cooked are hard to distinguish
from spinach. The tubers must be cooked before they can be used for
food, in order to dissipate a very acrid principle that exists in both
leaves and root.

Another important food plant that has been introduced and yields
abundantly is the Cassava (Manihot utilissima). This plant furnishes the
staple food for the population of Brazil. It is easily propagated by the
planting pieces of the woody portions of the stems and branches. The
tubers are available in nine or ten months after planting. There are two
kinds, the sweet and the bitter; the latter being the more prolific. The
sweet kind can be fed to pigs without cooking. The bitter kind c