56 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



natives in f he niidest of a coconut plantation in order to kill the lalang 

 which had sprung up. But this latter remedy is considered by some 

 to be worse than the disease ; for tapioca is said to do a large amount 

 of harm to the palms by way of impoverishing the soil. 



Note By Mr. W. H. Wright. 



In reply to yours I am of opinion that Illuk grass can be got rid 

 of by giving it successive weedings, the first to be a mamoty weeding 6 

 inches deep. After that, weed it by pulling it up with the hand, seven 

 times successively as the blade grows. I have done this myself and 

 have seen it done on several estates. The cost of the work will depend 

 on the condition of the estate and the kind of soil in which the illuk 

 grasss grows. It should be easy to root it out after the third weeding. 



Note by Mr. William Jardixe, 

 Many thanks for sending me the interesting, well-written, and 

 useful paper on the method adopted by the planters of Sumatra for 

 effectually getting rid of that pest, the " Lalang-Lalang " of the 

 Malays, and the " Illuk " of the Sinhalese. I have no doubt that, 

 with the grass growing close and thick and 6 feet high, the method 

 adopted in Sumatra would prove effectual ; but it is rare to find such 

 luxuriant growth in Ceylon. At any rate I have only occasionally 

 come icross a few patches. Usually the growth is thinner and not 

 more than 4 feet high. Many a sleepless night has the thought of 

 tow to get rid of this grass caused me, and I doubt not other planters 

 who have had to do with it, I tried the method of pressing down 

 and rolling the grass, and that checked its growth for a few months. 

 I tried cutting it down with grass knives and thatching the ground 

 with the grass, but as there was not enough of it to cover the ground 

 thickly it was only a partial success. 



There is a kind of " Illuk " that grows freely in the Chilaw and 

 Puttalam districts. It rarely exceeds 3 feet in height and has a 

 tendency to fall over. The blades are thick and flaccid, and the roots 

 surely penetrate more than 8 inches. This kind might be effectually 

 dug out for Rs. 25 an acre, provided a sufficient force of men could be 

 got to do the work at the right time. 



The writer of the article on " Lalang-Lalang " says that the work 

 should be clone before the grass blossoms. I cannot say in how many 

 years it does blossom. Where I have seen it left for quite some years 

 I have never seen it blossom. But if once interfered with, either by 

 cutting down or burning, it at once springs up in blossom ; and if this 

 blossom is cut off, another follows within a month, and I think it 

 would go on doing this till it exhausted itself and died, 



