82 PLANTING IN UGANDA 



factory results in the long run. Such machines will 

 do good work, whilst the trees are young, in keeping 

 down the annual weeds ; but whilst they are being 

 worked, and are cutting up all the weeds alike, 

 there is the possibility of the couch-grass, whose 

 roots are permeating every inch of the soil, being 

 overlooked. Mechanical cultivators have been 

 used, in some cases with disastrous results. In 

 other cases, the results have satisfied the planters, 

 but whether in general the machine is as effective 

 in clearing the ground of weeds as the hand is a 

 question which still remains to be decided. A 

 high authority on the subject once stated that the 

 work on tropical plantations might be more cor- 

 rectly described as " extended gardening" than 

 as " agriculture." There is no doubt of the truth 

 of this; and the more we apply the principles of 

 gardening to all our operations, the greater our 

 success will be. In all the tropical plantation 

 countries of the world, farm implements have been 

 tried, and given up in favour of hand cultivation. 

 Cover Plants. A few years ago, a great deal 

 was heard of the possibilities of various selected 

 weeds as cover plants to the soil. It was claimed 

 that these plants, which were of the order 



