i893. EVOLUTION IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 45 



and other plants. They are so aggressive in their very nature that 

 they overpower the more dehcate plants. All along the coast of 

 British Guiana, where a narrow fringe is under cultivation, hardly a 

 native plant is to be seen, but a host of tropical weeds covers the 

 parapets of the roads and every piece of ground otherwise unoccupied. 

 They even penetrate long distances into the interior where there is a 

 clearing, ousting the more delicate ferns and grasses natural to 

 the locality. These latter may occupy the provision ground of the 

 Indian without interference, but where the white man or negro makes 

 his home the weeds follow him. One of the most common in pastures 

 is the black sage (Varronia ciirassavica), which stands up defiantly, as 

 if it knew that not even a goat or donkey will touch it. But of all 

 these pests the sour grass [Paspalum conjugatum) is, perhaps, the worst. 

 It is so rampant in the wet seasons that it allows nothing else to exist 

 where the ground is moist. Disliked by every animal, it covers all 

 the road-sides, and is a perpetual eye-sore to the agriculturist. 

 Other weeds affect dry places, holding their own by pushing thick roots 

 or tubers far below the parched surface. Like the forest trees, weeds 

 struggle with each other, and, according to the season, either come 

 to the front or give place. Where there is not much traffic on the 

 roads, the grasses and other weeds cover them entirely, and even in 

 the city they encroach so far that periodical cleaning is necessary. 

 The dams of plantations are often almost impassable on account of 

 tall grasses, which rise to a height of five or six feet. Many of 

 these have serrated leaves, and the pedestrian, in pushing his way, 

 gets his hands and face disfigured with scratches which in some cases 

 may prove serious cuts. 



As in the forest the trees take care not to allow the sunlight to 

 penetrate and raise up a host of rivals, so on the plantation the 

 agriculturist must keep the soil occupied to prevent weeds from 

 spreading. The labour of weeding, when this is not done, is most 

 arduous. In Europe, most of the pests of arable land are annuals 

 which can be easily destroyed by the hoe. Here, however, the 

 tufted grasses and sedges, deep-rooting shrubs, and tangled creepers 

 are exceedingly difficult to eradicate. Only the dense jungle of a 

 cane-field, or the shade of thick-growing trees, can keep them under 

 without man's interference. Not a single weed shows itself among 

 the sugar-canes after they have got beyond their earlier stage, and 

 when ripe no large beast, much less man, can penetrate them. Here, 

 instead of individuality, we have something like combination for an 

 object, examples of which are more common in temperate climates 

 than in the tropics. 



James Rodway. 



