No. XXII. 



{Printed f«r the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



[Sinhalese and Tamil copies can be had free on application.] 



MANIOCA CULTIVATION, 



By J. P. Lewis, M.A., C.C.S.] 



Soil, method Of planting, and the yield.— Manioca thrives best in light sandy soil. It 

 thrives under the most diverse conditions of climate, on dry plains, on rocky hillsides as 

 well as humid plains and hills, wherever the soil is friable or gravelly. The plant is cut into 

 pieces from 3 in. to 1 ft. 6 in. and planted 3 ft. apart. Very often two pieces are planted 

 in the same hole crossways, like an X. The yield is from 8 to 10 tons an acre, or from 40 to 

 80 lb. per plant. It is drought-resisting , and' therefore even 14 in. of rainfall can secure an 

 abundant crop. 



Time 0? cultivation. — The best time for cultivation is to plant the stick cuttings as 

 soon as the monsoon breaks. From time of planting to harvesting the least time is six 

 months, and therefore in places|where both the north-east and the south-west rains are 

 received two crops can be gathered in a year. To get a good crop it must be planted 

 annually. In districts where chena cultivation is carried on it is best to plant Cassava 

 before kurakkan is sown. 



Methods of Hand Preparation. 



( 1 ) Rasp the pieces of the tubers and soak the material in water. The sediment which 

 is formed at the bottom of the water when collected and dried is good flour, which can be 

 used in the preparation of cakes or as starch. 



(2) Skin the tuber and boil it, then use it immediately in place of potatoes or yams, 

 or dry it. These dried tubers can be pounded and made into flour. The flour is good for 

 baking native cakes or (rotis). 



(3) Scrape the skin and make mto curries. 



(4) Scrape the skin and boil with chillies and salt and saffron and use the diet as any 

 ordinary food. This is the most common mode of eating amongst the Sinhalese and Tamils. 



Precautions. 



(1) Carefully scrape off the skin and the other portion or rind, whereby the greater 

 portion of the poison will be removed. 



(2) Thoroughly heat the remainder by boiling or otherwise, so as to destroy or drive 

 off any remaining prussic acid. 



(3) Eat Cassava only after it has been freshly cooked, as Cassava which has been 

 cooked and kept may be a dangerous substance. 



In the Jaffna Peninsula it is grown chiefly in garden lands ; where the cultivation is 

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

 orsami, or on the borders of lands cultivated with tobacco, chillies, brinjals, &c. t 



It is propagated 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 

 3 ft. apart, and are watered every two or three days for six months until the plants are 

 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 



