398 Timehri. 
again care is very necessary. A careless workman will, by forking too 
close to the roots, destroy the feeding area and absolutely murder the 
plant. Also the operator must keep his back to the plant as he works 
and not fork towards it, otherwise there is a tendency on the part of the 
feeding roots to curl back towards the stem. 
Shallow planting has also to be avoided. Limes being ordinarily 
surface feeders, under such conditions their roots are scorched during 
the day and chilled during the night. On the other hand, if planted too 
deeply, the roots may run for food and moisture to the sour soil below. 
Mulching is an operation that is very often carelessly performed 
unless very strict supervision is given. If the plants have been planted 
too deeply, mulching, though ordinarily the most beneticial of operations 
may become a grave danger. The practice of heaping a quantity of 
grass and weedings generally quite close to the stem, where it lies and 
rots, is a common one, but this is not mulching. 
But not only is the soil itself a fearful handicap to the grower, but 
what it supports is also a source of continual annoyance and anxiety. 
It is obviously impossible to expect to keep a young cultivation entirely 
clean weeded, it is only possible to keep an area around the young plants 
clean of weeds, gradually increasing this as the trees grow larger, with 
an occasional brushing down of all grass and bush with the cutlass. 
But one has to contend with the all-powerful razor-grass. No one who 
has not experienced it can realise to what a state of impenetrable dense 
jungle this greedy grass can attain. No cover crop in the world can 
fight with this mighty foe. Nothing can rival it, floods seem but to 
make it more sturdy, while fire only serves to make it spring again 
with fresh luxuriance. To fork it up by the roots and transport it from 
the field is not an operation which the practical planter can contemplate, 
if he is growing his limes as a commercial venture. 
The amount of laceration the saw-like edges of this grass can inflict 
on the one ignorant as to how to get through it, will give some idea as 
to the blood-thirsty nature of this pest. 
Next is the hardy, tight-clinging “ iron ~ or * wire ~ grass, a com- 
paratively small tuft of which will defy the persuasive powers of a really 
strong man to pull out by the roots. This enemy must be constantly 
forked up, otherwise the lime plant stands not the slightest chance of 
making any progress, as it binds the surface soil around to such an 
extent as to make it so impenetrable that the unfortunate lime plant so 
surrounded remains dwarfed and stunted, a ready prey for any disease 
and a fit subject for a severe attack from various scale insects. Such a 
tree soon assumes a golden hue and is a menace to healthy trees in the 
neighbourhood. 
We pass over, after this, such triffine foes as guava bush, congo 
Db bel ? GS 
pump (Ceeropia pellata), Hydroleia spinosa, with its beautiful blue- 
