FILLING UP VACANCIES. 91 



on either side of the young seedling, taking to themselves all 

 the moisture there may be 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 insig- 

 nificant depth (say 8 inches). But on two sides of the said 

 seedling's tap-root, and in fact surrounding it, if the neigh- 

 bouring 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 58, 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 a lower 

 depth than the greater number of the rootlets of the neigh- 

 touring big plants traverse. Could this be done, and if the 



