COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL- hi 



A Simple and Inexpensive Method ok Exterminating "Illtk" 

 Over Large Areas on Coconut Plantations. 

 By Mr. Gerald Nicholas. 

 Practical coconut planters in Ceylon who have had to contend 

 with this pernicious weed-grass know that speedy and complete eradi- 

 cation can only be effected at a cost that is prohibitive. There are 

 but two effectual ways of accomplishing speedy extermination that the 

 writer is acquainted with, and they are both equally expensive : — 



1. To dig and turn the soil completely over the whole of the 

 affected area for rather more than the actual depth the roots have 

 penetrated, and then carefully to pick out by hand every bit of the 

 root and destroy it by fire. 



2. To pen herds of cattle for five or six consecutive nights on 

 the illuk in enclosures so compact that the animals cover the ground 

 with their droppings. The latter plan, however, can be carried out only 

 where the coconut palms are so advanced in growth that they cannot 

 be knocked about, or otherwise damaged, by the cattle. Either of 

 these methods will cost from Rs. 40 to lis. 50 per aci*e according to 

 the character of the growth of the illuk. The second plan, however, 

 would also considerably enrich the soil, so that a part of the cost 

 would be covered by the manure. 



Sickling the illuk with grass knives, or mowing it down with 

 bcythes, then ploughing the ground, or digging and turning it up with 

 the mamoty to a depth of 6 or 8 inches, and finally thatching the 

 surface with the weed grass or several layers of coconut husks are 

 effectual remedies, and if they are not quite so quick in their opera- 

 tion, they are certainly less expensive than the two methods pre- 

 viously described. 



But unless the ground is completely shaded by a heavy covering 

 success is only partial. The writer has known illuk blades penetrate thin 

 layers of coconut husk when the latter were not carefully laid down. 

 But the difficulty is to get either coconut husk or the illuk grass in 

 sufficient quantity near at hand, as the grass cut on the ground on 

 which it grew seldom suffices to cover it to the required depth, and 

 owing to their bulky nature the carriage of husks for a considerable 

 distance is expensive. On a coconut plantation it is not absolutely 

 necessary for the well-being of the palm that the whole surface of the 

 ground should be perfectly bare of herbage. 



