1893. EVOL ULIONGIN LEE GWA INA PORE SI. 45 
and other plants. They are so aggressive in their very nature that 
they overpower the more delicate 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 curassavica), 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. Nota 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 Ropway. 
