Miscellaneous. 



882 



A SIMPLE AND INEXPENSIVE METHOD OF SUPPRESSING AND EXTERMINATING 

 " ILLUK " OVER LARGE AREAS ON COCONUT PLANTATIONS. 



Practical coconut planters in Ceylon who have had to contend with this 

 pernicious weed-grass know that speedy and complete eradication can only be 

 effected at a cost that is prohibitive. There are but two effectual ways of 

 accomplishing speedy extermination that the writer is acquainted with, and they 

 are both equally expensive : — 



1. To dig and turn the soil completely over the whole of the effected 

 area for rather more than the actual depth the roots have penetrated, and then 

 carefully to pick out by hand every bit of the root and destroy it by fire. 



2. To pen herds of cattle for five or six consecutive nights on the 

 illuk in enclosures so compact that the animals cover the ground with their 

 droppings. The latter plan, however, can be carried out only where the coconut 

 palms are so advanced in growth that they cannot be knocked about, or othei'wise 

 damaged, by the cattle. Either of these methods will cost from lis. 40 to Rs. 50 

 per acre according to the character of the growth of the illuk. The second 

 plan, however, would also considerably enrich the soil, so that a part of the cost 

 would be covered by the manure. 



Sickling the illuk with grass knives, or mowing it down with scythes, 

 then ploughing the ground, or digging and turning it up with the mamoty to a 

 depth of 6 or 8 inches, and finally thatching the surface with the weed grass or 

 several layers of coconut husks are effectual remedies, and if they are not quite 

 so quick in their operation, they are certainly less expensive than the two methods 

 previously described. 



But unless the ground is completely shaded by a heavy covering success 

 is only partial. The writer has known illuk blades penetrate thin layers of 

 coconut husk when the latter were not carefully laid down. But the difficulty 

 is to get either coconut husk or the illuk grass in sufficient quantity near at 

 hand, as the grass cut on the ground on which it grew seldom suffices to cover 

 it to the required depth, and owing to their bulky nature the carriage of husks 

 for a considerable distance is expensive. On a coconut plantation it is not abso- 

 lutely necessary for the well-being of the palm that the whole surface of the 

 ground should be perfectly bare of herbage. 



When illuk has got a firm hold of the soil and a large area is involved, 

 the simplest and cheapest plan of dealing with it is, in my opinion, to open 

 lanes 10 feet wide along the rows of palms, thus :— 



Rows of coconut. 

 10 ft. lane. 



Spaces of Illuk 15 ft. wide. 



Rows of Coconut. 

 10 ft. lane. 



Spaces of Illuk 15 ft. wide. 



Rows of Coconut. 

 10 ft. lane. 



