3o8 Friends and Foes 



great increase, and its services in the past in burrow- 

 ing and tunnelling and in adding to the organic matter 

 of the soil must not be forgotten ; but at the present 

 day the farmer can hardly look upon it as other than 

 an enemy. It is the cultivated plants of foreign origin 

 which it especially attacks, for very many of the natives 

 are protected against it in one way or other, while the 

 foreigners are undefended — a good example of the 

 risks sometimes run in this way by colonists. 



The Indians defend their trees by a very simple 

 device, that of fastening thick wisps of grass with the 

 sharp points turned downwards round their stems. 

 The multitude of points quite baffles the ants, and 

 prevents their climbing further up. Orange-growers 

 plant their young trees in the centre of ring-shaped 

 earthen vessels, which are kept filled with water, and 

 answer one of the purposes of the natural * basins ' of 

 the teasel and other similar plants. 



In some parts of America orange-trees have run 

 wild, and have formed thickets, in spite of the ants ; 

 but, generally speaking, all the species of the citron 

 family — the orange, lemon, etc. — except the lime, 

 would be very quickly destroyed if they were left 

 without the help and protection of man. The lime 

 has run wild, and seems to be less liked by the ants 

 than the orange and lemon, whose leaves they * cut up 

 into sixpences ' when they have the opportunity, leaving 

 nothing but rags behind them. They are terrible 

 enemies to young plantations, nurseries, and gardens ; 

 but they greatly fear the small ants which protect 

 certain plants. 



The agricultural ant of Texas occupies a different 

 position from that of the leaf-cutter, for she is really 



