TREES THAT COUNT MANIHOT GLAZIOVII 65 



ness to starvation and utter neglect. It grows very 

 rapidly in vegetable mould, but, planted in any ordi- 

 nary soil at the break of the south-west monsoon, 

 the seedling will shift for itself, and possibly have 

 taken such a hold on the ground that no artificial 

 watering is required during the subsequent dry 

 season. This is what I have done with a hundred 

 seedlings six months old on poor, gravelly soil, and 

 I am certain that nearly the whole will burst forth 

 into fresh growth when the rain sets in." 



In Mauritius the Manihot, which was introduced 

 into the gardens at Pamplemousses in 1883, made 

 extraordinary progress. The late Mr. Scott made 

 many interesting experiments with them whilst in 

 charge of the gardens there. He tells us that he 

 lifted many of the trees when they were three years 

 old. " When they had shed their leaves " (he says) 

 ' ' they were lifted carefully, but without balls of 

 earth attached to the roots, and planted in another 

 part of the plantation. These transplants all held, 

 and although they have not made such a strong 

 growth as the other trees, it proves that this tree 

 can be transplanted with impunity." 



Furthermore, Mr. Scott gives proof of the re- 

 markable facility with which the Manihot lends itself 

 to propagation. During the season when the trees 

 were at rest he cut them back to within 3 feet of the 

 ground, and the stems, some of wh'ich were 8 feet 

 long, were cut into lengths of 6 inches, tied up in 

 grass-enveloped balls of earth and then set out in 

 beds under shade. Here they soon formed rootlets, 

 and threw up a fine sturdy stem, when they were at 



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