40 



Statistical Account of the 



The price of the leaves varies extremely; the worst are not 

 worth more than a few shillings per thousand, the very- best 

 not less than £6., and sometimes even £7 10s. for the same 

 quantity. Those which bring this latter price, are large, 

 thick, viscous, and both taste and smell very strong. The 

 method adopted in drying the produce and in manufacturing 

 it, is extremely defective. 



If the land be rented out, the crop is divided thus; — Land 

 owner; Peasant; Cattle; equal shares. 



The Palmyra palm is found in all the Maritime portions 

 of the District, but is not much prized. It is chiefly used 

 for the purpose of obtaining from it Toddy and Jagghery. 

 The wood of old trees answers admirably for rafters ; the 

 kernals are cool and pleasant ; and from the expressed juice of 

 the husk surrounding the nut, a kind of paste called Penattoo 

 is made. In the Northern parts of the Island this substance 

 forms an important article of food. 



The Kittool grows freely towards the interior, but is not 

 much cultivated; the jagghery obtained from it is considered 

 superior to all others. 



The Talipot is all but unknown. 



The Areeka palm is very extensively cultivated in the 

 southern part of the District. It begins to bear about six years 

 after being planted, and produces, on an average, one thousand 

 nuts annually ; these are worth on the spot from 2 \d. to 

 4^d. per hundred. The tree is short-lived ; generally shewing 

 signs of decay after twenty years or so. During the 

 supremacy of the Portuguese and Dutch, the natives at 

 Putlam were in the habit of paying their taxes in betel 

 nuts ; these must, however, have been procured from other 

 Districts, as it is found that the tree does not thrive any 

 where near the village. The plants shoot up rapidly 

 during the first few years but then die away suddenly. The 

 present produce is unequal to the demand ; large quantities 

 are consequently brought from the southern parts of the 

 Island, where the soil is better adapted to the plant. 



