WEEDING AND UPKEEP 81 



completely wherever found, and to remove it from 

 the field to be dried and burnt. Such weeding 

 ought not to be given out as task work, or it may 

 be carelessly done. Constant supervision should 

 be exercised over the weeders. 



It will be gathered from what has been said 

 above, that intelligent weeding of a plantation is 

 necessary if it is to be kept in order at moderate 

 expense, and that it is not an operation which 

 requires but little supervision beyond the checking 

 of areas. The appearance of weeds should be 

 watched for, and they should, as they appear, be 

 identified and dealt with effectively. The annuals 

 are the first to appear on a new plantation, but 

 the others soon come in small numbers. A few 

 months of indiscriminate hoeing, however, will 

 result in the establishment of all these persistent 

 weeds in large colonies, which it will take an 

 immense amount of labour and money to eradicate. 

 The writers know of instances where " Lumbugu " 

 has cost so much as 10 per acre to remove com- 

 pletely. 



Where so much discrimination is necessary, if 

 good results are to be obtained, mechanical weeders 

 and cultivators need not be expected to give satis- 



(D 243) G 



