120 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CH. XII 
timber has been removed, the brushwood, etc., may be 
placed round the old stumps and fired. This will pre¬ 
vent the cut stumps shooting. As the seedlings grow 
up they will again be thinned out into rows and the 
process repeated. The variety of black wattle which 
is apparently best suited to British East Africa is var. 
Mollis. Care should be taken not to have any orna¬ 
mental Silver wattles (var. dealbata) in the neighbour¬ 
hood of plantations. 
Up to the present wattle has been satisfactorily free 
from disease or pests. A small nocturnal beetle has 
made periodic attacks on the foliage ; but, luckily with¬ 
out lasting effect. A serious danger lies, as elsewhere, 
in grass fires. A sufficient clearing should be made 
not only all round the plantation, but also between 
different blocks. 
It may be stated with confidence that, in the most 
favourable portions of the Protectorate, wattle growers 
need not fear competition from any portion of the 
world. 
