492 



absolutely commoner in carefully weeded estates than in weedy 

 spots. It cannot stand competition with other weeds. 



A very troublesome weed in the damper parts of the Botanic 

 •Garden is the African Sparganophprus Vaillanti. It seems to seed 

 very fast, and when hoed out of the beds comes up again very 

 quickly. How it got into Singapore is not known, and it does 

 not seem to have spread to any great extent, though very 

 abundant where it occurs. 



In conclusion, one may say that wherever there is cultivation 

 there will be weeds of some kind, plants which are not wanted 

 and which become a nuisance. Some, like the Lalang, are more 

 difficult to eradicate than others. But it is practically impossible 

 to foretell whether in any given country any plant will become 

 a nuisance or not. A plant w f hich gives no trouble in one place 

 may be a great trouble in another, and vice versa. All depends on 

 the competition with other weeds it meets with, and its power cf 

 reproducing itself by seed, which in many places varies for no 

 reason that can be accounted for. 



The only thing that one can certainly say is that shrubby weeds 

 are usually more difficult to eradicate than herbaceous ones, and 

 that those which propagate themselves readily by underground 

 suckers, or tubers, are more difficult to extirpate than annual, or 

 short-lived plants which reproduce by seed only. 



There is, I have found, a considerable variety of opinion among 

 planters as to the special demerits of various weeds. One con- 

 siders the white-weed (Ageratum conyzoides) the most objection- 

 able, another dislikes still more Portulacca, in another estate a 

 kind of sow thistle (Gynura) is most strongly objected to. All 

 agree, however, in the injury caused by Lalang, and in sandy 

 places, where it can grow, the Victoria grass, Panicum repens. 



There is no cure for weeds on ground required for cultivation, 

 for any weed killer that will kill weeds will kill any other plant 

 of an equally high order. The weeds must be hoed out, and it is 

 important to do so before the seeds are ripe, or they will fall 

 when being hoed up and the weeds soon re-appear. 



A COFFEE LEAF FUNGUS. 



Mr. Prior sends some leaves and berries of Coffee affected by 

 an unpleasant looking disease in the form of a mould. The leaves 

 are dead and black and covered all over the back with a fine 

 white mycelium. The twigs are also covered with it in thicker 

 strands, no fruit is to be seen on it. The berries yet unripe have 

 large brown blotches of decay extending through the husk, and 

 depressed on the outer surface and covered also with this fine 

 mycelium. He states that it is doing much damage. I have 

 known this fungus for very many years, and have never yet been 

 fortunate enough to find its fruit. When the late Mr. Robertson, 



