606 NOXIOUS WEEDS 



Frogs and Toads. These are most useful creatures in the 

 garden, for they destroy many injurious insects. In Europe and 

 America toads are often specially protected and encouraged to 

 multiply for the purpose of consuming beetles, snails, wire-worms, 

 weevils, and other destructive insects. It is said that in England 

 the value of toads in gardens is now so well recognised that a high 

 price is sometimes paid for them for colonising purposes. 



Lizards of all sorts are beneficial as w r ell as interesting 

 creatures in a garden. They feed mainly on beetles, grubs, etc., 

 and therefore should be encouraged to multiply. 



Rat-snakes are somewhat of a mixed blessing, most people 

 having a repulsive feeling against all snakes. Yet rat-snakes in 

 particular, which are harmless, are very destructive against rats. 



NOXIOUS WEEDS AND MEANS FOR THEIR 

 DESTRUCTION 



Weeding, or the destruction of weeds, enters largely into the 

 economy of garden and estate work in the tropics. A weed is 

 generally defined as a plant out of place ; thus a plant which may 

 be otherwise useful may become a weed. Any plant deemed a 

 \veed, in a garden, should of course be suppressed as far as practi- 

 cable ; but on estates the proper degree of weeding and the best 

 system of carrying it out are sometimes disputed points. Most 

 planters believe in continuous clean-weeding, while others prefer 

 periodical or annual weeding combined with tillage of the soil. 

 Not only do weeds compete with the cultivated plants for light, 

 air, and the soluble constituents of the soil, but they may also 

 harbour insect pests and parasitic fungi. Weeds are usually 

 provided with rapid means of natural distribution, their seeds being 

 readily carried by the wind or by animals, or their tuberous roots 

 may be of a persistent character, rapidly multiplying underground. 

 Vacant ground soon becomes occupied by \veeds, and may thus 

 become a harbour of pestilential growth to the danger of neighbour- 

 ing plantations. Weeding becomes less necessary as crops cover 

 the ground, and in the case of rubber or other trees \vhich almost 

 entirely cover the ground it may become nearly dispensable. The 

 growing of intercrops between perennial crops, as Rubber and 

 Coconuts, during the earlier years of their growth has the bene- 

 ficial effect of economising weeding as well as providing an interim 

 return. Where this is not adopted it is necessary to maintain a 

 clear space of about 6 feet in diameter free of weeds, around each tree. 



