120 A COLONY IN THE MAKING ch. xii 



timber has been removed, the brushwood, etc., may be 

 placed round the old stumps and fired. This will pre- 

 vent the cut stumps shooting. As the seedlings grow 

 up they will again be thinned out into rows and the 

 process repeated. The variety of black wattle which 

 is apparently best suited to British East Africa is var. 

 Mollis. Care should be taken not to have any orna- 

 mental Silver wattles (var. dealbatd) in the neighbour- 

 hood of plantations. 



Up to the present wattle has been satisfactorily free 

 from disease or pests. A small nocturnal beetle has 

 made periodic attacks on the foliage ; but, luckily with- 

 out lasting effect. A serious danger lies, as elsewhere, 

 in grass fires. A sufficient clearing should be made 

 not only all round the plantation, but also between 

 different blocks. 



It may be stated with confidence that, in the most 

 favourable portions of the Protectorate, wattle growers 

 need not fear competition from any portion of the 

 world. 



