COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF LEMON-GRASS OIL. 3 
PROPAGATION. 
Lemon grass does not produce seed in this country, although occa- 
sionally an abortive flower spike may be found on old, neglected 
plants. Propagation, therefore, is effected by division of the clumps. 
From each clump 25 to 50 divisions may be separated easily by tear- 
ing them off from the base of the mature plant. This should be accom- 
plished by a sidewise pull, so that a few root fibers will be retained 
on each division. In case the old plants are to remain in their places 
the required number of divisions can be secured by pulling them off 
Fig. 2.— Lemon grass 3S- feet high six months after planting on sandy pine land. 
from the outer edge of the old clump. With a little practice these 
may be removed without loss of root fibers. 
Before planting, the tops of the divisions should be cut back to about 
3 inches (fig. 3). The plants should be set in the early spring in rows 
3 feet apart and about 18 inches apart in the row. This work should 
be done just after a rain or at a time when the soil is sufficiently moist 
not to require artificial watering. 
FERTILIZERS AND CULTIVATION. 
The results obtained from experimental fertilizer plats seem to 
indicate that on the sandy Florida soils rather more potash is required 
by lemon grass than by most grasses. Analysis shows a considerable 
variation in the percentage of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash 
present in the plants of the different varieties tested. The results 
secured with one variety, which may be taken as a type, show that 
5 tons of lemon grass contain 20.32 pounds of nitrogen, 33.20 pounds 
