FILLING UP VACANCIES. 93 



The second cause of failure I attribute to the old plants 

 on either side of the young seedling, taking to themselves 

 all the moisture there maybe in the soil during any drought. 

 The young seedling, whose tap-root at the time is not a 

 long one (for it is in the spring of the year following the 

 year of planting that this occurs), is dependent for life 

 entirely on the small amount of moisture that exists in the 

 soil, at that insignificant depth (say 8 inches). But on two 

 sides of the said seedling's tap-root, and in fact surrounding 

 it, if the neighbouring Tea bushes are full grown, are the 

 feeding rootlets of the big plants, sucking up all the 

 moisture attainable (the necessities of all plants being then 

 great), and leaving none for the poor young seedling, which 

 consequently dies in the unequal contest. 



This last evil (in climates where there is a deficiency of 

 spring rains, and, in fact, more or less in all Tea localities, 

 for in none is there as much rain as the plants require in 

 the spring) there is no means of avoiding as long as seedlings, 

 after transplanting, lose time, the effect of the transplanting, 

 and thus fail to attain a good depth before the said dry 

 season. 



In fact, unless something is devised, I believe with many, 

 trying to fill up vacancies is a loss of time and money. 



The pits to plant in, advised at page 59, should of course 

 be made in these vacant spots, for they help much towards 

 the early descent of the tap-root. Still they can scarcely 

 avail sufficiently to avoid the evil, if the plant is lying inert, 

 as is generally the case for two or three months after 

 planting ; this delay being, moreover, in the rains, the best 

 growing time. 



If we can devise any means to avoid this delayed growth 

 in the young seedling after it is transplanted, then the tap- 

 root, before the drought of next spring, will have descended 

 low enough to gather moisture for itself; that is, from 



