59 



Edible Products. 



produce of the palmyra is consequently much neglected. In Vadamaradchi West 

 the use of it as food has extended to the higher classes who, however, make but a 

 sparing use of it. In view of its increasing popularity as an article of food and of 

 the extension of the cultivation of the plant in consequence, it is a question whether 

 it would not be wise to introduce it and to endeavour to popularize it in the Mannar 

 districts and in the divisions of Jaffna in which there is no cultivation of it, viz., 

 Vadamaradchi East, Pachchilaippalli, Karaichchi, Punaryn, Tunukkay, Karunaval 

 Pattu and Delft. It would be an advantage to the people to have another article of 

 food to turn to. I had written this sentence before I found Captain Nagel's letter ; 

 it is interesting to find him using exactly the same argument, " it is certainly better 

 to have an article of food more than less in a country." 



Although it is not cultivated in Pachchilaippalli, it is appreciated even there 

 as food, and the people of that division, whose time is chiefly given up to tobacco 

 cultivation, buy it from the people of other divisions. 



The Assistant Government Agent of Mullaittivu thinks that in course of time 

 it will become a popular article of food in his district also, where the people are just 

 beginning to appreciate it, and where the cultivation has also increased. The diffi- 

 culty in the days of Captain Nagel, as it is now, was to get the people to take to it, 

 owing to their addiction to dry grains and jungle roots. 



It is grown chielly in garden lands, where the cultivation is extensive in 

 separate plots, but in other places in the midst of dry grains such as kurakkan or sami, 

 or on the borders of lands cultivated with tobacco, chillies, brinjals, etc. It is propa- 

 gated from the stem which is cut into pieces about one foot in length, the old trees 

 of the former cultivation being preserved for this purpose. These pieces are planted 

 three feet apart, and are watered every two or three days for six months until the 

 plants ace firmly established. After six or seven months the roots can be dug up 

 for use as food, and they must be used within two or three days after they are dug 

 up, as if they are kept longer they become poisonous. 



Lands which it is intended to plant with maniocca are ploughed or hoed, and 

 in some cases manured, but not always. Manuring is usual in the Islands for instance, 

 but in Valikamam North, where the soil is richer, it is not usual to manure. The 

 plant does not require much manuring, but manuring of course increases its growth. 

 The best manure is considered to be palmyra olas or green leaves buried half a foot 

 deep. The different soils have different effects on the growth of the plant. Where 

 the soil is reddish and hard as in Valikamam North, the root is generally three feet 

 iu length and one foot in circumference, but in sandy soils as in Teumaradchi the root 

 grows much longer and thicker. In 1891 a maniocca root six feet in length was 

 brought to Jaffna by one of the Mauiagars. 



The cultivation goes on throughout the whole year. In places with 

 sandy soils it is usual to plant in January, but in other places it is planted 

 generally in May with the dry grains, such as sami, which are sown in that 

 month. The water that irrigates the dry grain then serves for the maniocca 

 plants also, and when the dry grain is reaped, the beds are made up again, 

 and the maniocca watered every two or three days ; or in some places, such as in 

 Valikamam East, every four days. 



Manner oj Use as Food— There are two ways in which it is used :— 



(1) The roots are peeled, cut into small pieces, boiled or baked or buried 

 in hot ashes, and eaten with or without curry. 



(2) The roots are sliced into thin pieces which are dried in the sun and 

 pounded into flour. Cakes are made from the flour in the same way as cakes 

 are made from rice flour. The former method is the most common, 



