86 Coffee Planting. 



The mammotie, which is used on all occasions 

 and for all purposes for which in England a spade, 

 a pick, a hoe, or a shovel would be required, is a 

 heavy, short-handled hoe, something between the 

 spade and t the adze. It has a haft from three to 

 three-and-a-half feet long ; if required for digging, 

 the blade should be heavy, sharp, and deep, and 

 not too wide ; a depth of nine inches from the haft- 

 socket to the edge, and a width of six inches will 

 probably be the best dimensions ; if, however, 

 it is required for such purposes as surface-scraping, 

 shovelling loose earth, sand, &c., the wider the 

 blade is the better, and the dimensions may be as 

 much as ten inches wide by, say, eight or nine only, 

 deep. It is obvious that for labourers who inva- 

 riably go barefoot, the spade as used by the Euro- 

 pean workman would be quite useless. 



The bill-hook is principally required for cutting 

 down jungle and underwood, lopping the branches 

 of felled timber, dressing stakes, shingles, &c. It 

 should have a long, curved, heavy blade, and be 

 provided with a haft or handle, either six or eight 

 inches, or three or four feet long, at the option of the 

 labourer, or according to the description of work 

 for which it is required. The bill-hook in common 

 use among the Cingalese, has a handle about four 

 feet in length, and is much curved or hooked in the 

 blade ; that used by the local jungle tribes of 



