Am.  jour.  phmm.  |    Production  of  Lemon-Grass  Oil.  181 
April,  1917.       >  1  AUA 
within  3  feet  of  the  surface  should  not  be  planted  to  lemon  grass. 
Field  tests  have  not  been  made  on  heavy  clay  lands,  but  the  success- 
ful cultivation  of  the  crop  on  that  type  of  soil  is  regarded  as 
doubtful. 
The  climatic  requirements  of  lemon  grass  are  subtropical.  A 
winter  temperature  of  280  F.  has  killed  the  plants  to  the  ground, 
while  240  has  killed  the  roots.  However,  the  crop  may  be  planted 
with  safety  where  the  temperature  does  not  fall  below  25 0  F.,  and 
under  certain  conditions  even  a  slightly  lower  temperature  may  not 
cause  serious  damage. 
PROPAGATION. 
Lemon  grass  does  not  produce  seed  in  this  country,  although 
occasionally  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 
tearing  them  off  from  the  base  of  the  mature  plant.  This  should  be 
accomplished  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  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.  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  re- 
quired 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  of  potash,  and  18.75  pounds  of  phosphoric  acid.  In 
the  fertilizer  tests  a  better  growth  was  secured  when  the  potash  was 
applied  in  the  form  of  the  sulphate,  and  the  results  were  more  satis- 
factory when  part  of  the  nitrogen  was  applied  in  organic  form.  In 
the  tests  which  have  been  made  a  fertilizer  having  4  per  cent. 
