Miscellaneous. 



330 



Various methods have been tried to get rid of this most persistent of grasses ; 

 one so persistent that the smallest particle of root left in the ground will sprout 

 and grow, and in time will create another large and extensive lalang patch. If one 

 merely burn off the lalang, and then hoe or dig up the roots 4 to 6 inches in depth, 

 once or even twice, and then upon the ground plant and cultivate some other 

 crop, the lalang will grow up side by side with the crop and eventually kill 

 it. The only efficacious remedy for really ridding the soil of this grass was thought 

 to be to dig and turn the ground completely over to 2 or 3 feet in depth according 

 to how far down the lalang r'oots had penetrated, and then to pick out by 

 hand and to destroy by burning every minute particle of lalang root visible. Now 

 this method, although effectual, was exceedingly costly, so much so as to prohibit 

 its being followed save in very exceptional cases. In the course of time European 

 planters began to think out and practise a scientific method of ridding the soil 

 of this wholly useless, mischievous weed. By obser ving closely the conditions under 

 which the plant throve, it was found that lalang required good diy soil and 

 any quantity of sun and warmth. It was found that lalang will not thrive 

 on poor soil ; it will not thrive upon damp soil : it will not thrive in a swamp ; and 

 it will not thrive under shade. Consequently it is never found in the forests, 

 except where the jungle has been extensively cleared by the hill-men for a dry rice 

 or hill-paddy clearing. 



Moreover the planters observed that the Malay and other native settlers had 

 a fairly efficacious and comparatively easy method of temporarily getting the better 

 of any lalang surrounding their hoiases or which grew in their plantations. They 

 did this by the simple process of pressing the lalang flat down on the ground 

 whilst it was in full growth, with the aid of a long bamboo pole upon which one 

 or two men kneeled. They thereby caused the lalang to smother itself and this 

 retarded its growth for a few months. I have Avitnessed this time after time in 

 my wanderings among the Malay villages. The parent lalang grass flattened down 

 in this way died, and rotted, and caiised the land to be temporarily shaded 

 from the sun, so that the new lalang shoots sprouting from the parent stock 

 became too weak and frail to penetrate the thick outer covering of the old 

 grass. Hence, regarding this, and bearing in mind that lalang must have sun, 

 the planters decided upon making use of the lalang itself as a weapon of 

 extermination. 



The method thus adopted and which is now in use all over Sumatra 

 is to mow down the lalang by aid of an instrument called by the Malay a "Tajak," 

 which consisted of a sharp heavy blade about four inches broad by 1^ to 2 feet long, 

 with a handle from 4 to 5 feet long sloping at an angle of 45° from the blade 

 upwards when the tool is laid flat upon and parallel with the ground in a position 

 for cutting. This long handle enabled the coolies to use the same constantly with- 

 out suffering from that universal complaint among Asiatics of " Sakit Pingang " (or 

 pain in the back). The lalang was thus hewn down close to the roots by this tool, 

 and was then gathered up in bundles and carefully laid upon one side ; the ground 

 was then dug up or hoed about 4 to 6 inches deep sufficient to turn completely 

 over the thickest part of the lalang root ; the implement used for this purpose is a 

 big hoe, called by the Malays a "chunkol" and by the Tamils a " mamoty." It is 

 usually very sharp and heavy and measures from 8 to 10 inches in breadth and is 

 from 10 to 14 inches in length. The Malays and Tamils use a short handle from 2h to 

 3 feet long, but the Chinese use a handle from 5 to 6 feet long. 



Each coolie is alloted a certain task, which he has to complete for his day's 

 work before he can get a full day's pay. When the ground has been completely 

 hoed over, it is then inspected by the European assistant planter in charge of the 

 gang, and if the work is correct, permission is given to shade the ground with the 



