WEEDS. IO7 



of leaving growing anything but Coffee behind 

 him. 



The plants that steal out from the jungle and 

 spring into life amongst the trim rows of Coffee, with 

 the wonderful spontaneousness of tropical vegetation, 

 are many and various. " White weed," "Spanish 

 needle," and common bracken fern are amongst 

 those most troublesome and widespread, though 

 every district usually has its own special kinds. 

 Should any of these be rampant (and I have seen 

 them matted into an almost impenetrable breast- 

 high cover ! ) then it will be difficult to remove 

 them off the ground. They must be buried in 

 long trenches between the rows of plants a long, 

 troublesome, and costly work or burnt in heaps 

 on the roadways. The bracken is one of the 

 worst of weeds, and is identical with the English 

 form. The new hand is surprised to find him- 

 self, though under the tropics, knee-deep in fern, 

 and surrounded by mountains and torrents, all 

 exact counterparts of far-away Scottish or Welsh 

 scenery. 



For disposing of small weeds, it is a good plan to 

 have square holes of say 5 ft. by 5 ft. at distances of 

 250 yards along the lower sides of the roads. Into 

 these all weeds are tumbled from the gathering. sacks 

 and trodden down. Finally, the whole art of weed- 

 ing may be said to lie in the simple formula to 

 begin early and keep on at it. 



In general this operation has to be done twice 



