S31 



Miscellaneous. 



lalang grass previously cut. This must be done very carefully, as not a vestige of 

 ground must be visible to the sun's rays, otherwise the lalang will groAv again. 



The above remedy is very effectual, and is not expensive, and it seldom fails 

 to completely rid the soil of the lalang. The roots that are left in the soil rot, and 

 serve to make the ground more porous and to manure it. The operation should be 

 attended to before the lalang goes to seed. The ground should also be left covered 

 by the lalang for several weeks, and then just before planting one's crop it is well 

 to give the ground another hoe over and to bury the now rotten grass. 



I have myself seen very excellent tobacco grown on lalang ground treated 

 after the foregoing method, and it is well known how excessively tobacco takes its 

 richness out of any soil. Again, the tapioca plant is considered by the Malay and 

 Chinese cultivators to be a plant that can effectually combat against the grass if 

 planted in a lalang field treated as above. I have often seen tapioca planted by the 

 natives in the midst of a coconut plantation in order to kill the lalang which had 

 sprung up. But this latter remedy is considered by some to be worse than the 

 disease ; for tapioca is said to do a large amount of harm to the palms by way of 

 impoverishing the soil. 



KILLING ILLUK BY SUCCESSIVE WEEDINGS. 



Mr. W. H. Wright of Mirigama writes to me :— 



" In reply to yours I am of opinion that Illuk grass can be got rid of 

 by giving it successive weedings, the first to be a mamoty weeding inches deep. 

 After that, weed it by pulling it up with the hand, seven times successively as the 

 blade grows. I have done this myself and have seen it done on several estates. The 

 cost of the work will depend on the condition of the estate and the kind of soil in which 

 the Illuk grass grows. It should be easy to root it out after the third weeding." 



VARIOUS METHODS FOB KILLING ILLUK. 



"Many thanks for sending me the interesting, well-written, and useful 

 paper on the method adopted by the planters of Sumatra for effectually getting rid 

 of that pest, the " Lalang-Lalang " of the Malays, and the " Illuk" of the Sinhalese. 

 I have no doubt that, with the grass growing close and thick and 6 feet high, the 

 method adopted in Sumatra would prove effectual ; but it is rare to find such 

 luxuriant growth in Ceylon. At any rate I have only occasionally come across a few 

 patches. Usually the growth is thinner and not more than 4 feet high. Many a 

 sleepless night has the thought of how to get rid of this grass caused me, and I 

 doubt not other planters who have had to do with it. I tried the method of pressing 

 down and rolling the grass, and that checked its growth for a few months. I tried 

 cutting it down with grass knives and thatching the ground with the grass, but as 

 there was not enough of it to cover the ground thickly it was only a partial success. 



There is a kind of "Illuk" that grows freely in the Chilaw and Puttalam 

 districts. It rarely exceeds 3 feet in height and has a tendency to fall over. 

 The blades are thick and flaccid, and the roots surely penetrate more than 8 inches. 

 This kind might be effectually dug out for Rs. 25 an acre, provided a sufficient force 

 of men could be got to do the work at the right time. 



The writer of the article on "Lalang-Lalang" says that the work should 

 be done before the grass blossoms. I cannot say in how many years it does 

 blossom. Where I have seen it left for quite some years I have never 

 seen it blossom. But if once interfered with, either by cutting down 

 or burning, it at once springs up in blossom ; and if this blossom is cut off, 

 another follows within a month, and I think it would go on doing this till it 

 exhausted itself and died. Our good friend, Mr. C. Murray, I see still interests 

 himself in Ceylon, and he deserves thanks for getting us such an interesting 

 letter on a subject of so much importance to all low-country planters." — 

 William Jardine. 



