Dec. 1906.] 511 Correspondence. 



an even surface to clay. On account of its finely-comminuted nature and 

 its excellent plasticity, it is superior to any ordinary clay. It is largely used 

 in the manufacture of images, representing various planets, which are used 

 in Bali* ceremonies. For this purpose, the officiating devil-priest proceeds to an 

 ant-hill in the evening, and with solemn invocation of the gods pronounces a 

 benediction. The following day the required quantity of the consecrated earth 

 is cut and removed. The clay is frequently made use of by sorcerers to prevent 

 poisonous snakes from entering a house, the finely-pulverised earth is " charmed " 

 and sprinkled round the outside of the building. It is also used in land disputes 

 in the following manner : — There is an ancient Kandyan custom Bolahadanawd, 

 of placing a bundle of twigs somewhere on the land in dispute, to indicate that 

 neither of the claimants should step into the land pending a legal decision of 

 their rights. On these occasions charmed ant-hill earth is also placed in a corner 

 of the land, in the belief that the wrath of the presiding deities will fall upon the 

 false litigant. 



In Sinhalese medicine the clay is largely used for the treatment of bruises, 

 boils, sprains and fractures. For bruises, for instance, the bark of the Bomi tree 

 is pounded and heated over a fire and mixed into a paste with ant-hill earth and 

 salt water. For boils, the same mixture, with the addition of turmeric, makes 

 a very efficacious ointment. 



The destructive habits of the white ants a"re well-known. They will attack 

 the most durable-looking timber and reduce it in a short time to mere husk, 

 and the losses caused by their ravages to newly-planted plants, especially young 

 coconuts, are enormous. To protect the latter, some planters have of late years 

 adopted a plan of smearing the nuts and roots before planting, with a paste made 

 of white ants' clay. This is done with the idea, that as the white-ants have finished 

 with the clay, they will not penetrate again to attack the plants, and the results 

 have been reported as very successful. An analysis of the clay, to determine its 

 chemical constituents, might possibly show that its use in this direction may 

 advantageously be extended to the planting of all products, liable to the attacks 

 of white-ants, while its use in building operations for the preservation of wall-posts 

 might be found possible. To prevent the attacks of white-ants the Kandyans 

 apply a layer of sand and salt to the coconut-hole, and also plant side by side, 

 with the young coconut-plant, a Sevendara (Andropogon muricatus) or a Habarala 

 (Alocasia macrorhiza) plant. A Sinhalese proverb goes that " a dwarf ant-hill 

 and a short man cannot be depended upon," from the circumstance that cobras 

 often seek refuge in these cavities. 



T. B. POHATH-KEHELPANALA. 



Gampola, 25th November, 1906. 



PLANTAIN GROWING IN SOUTH INDIA. 

 Dear Sir,— The cultivation of plantains in South India presents some 

 striking differences to the methods adopted locally, and the following summary of 

 an account of banana growing iu Malabar given in the Indian Agriculturist for 

 October should prove interesting to local growers of the fruit :— 



Planting is done in September and January. Young shoots from the mother 

 plant are taken out, and after they are smeared with cow-dung and wood-ashes and 

 well dried in the sun are stored up for planting at the proper time. Unless the 

 shoots are thus dried and stored the crop is poor. The dried shoots are buried 

 wholly in a slanting position about 6 feet apart in pifcs 3 feet square by 2 feet deep ■ 

 The pits are not wholly covered up after planting, for it is said that manure while 



* Images made of clay representing planets — a ceremony characterised by the recital of religious 

 poems and stanzas for exorcising devils, curing diseases and dispelling evil-effects. 



