238 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1889. 
to be widely extended so as to create an advance 
in prioe in the home markets. The manufacture 
has been greatly improved by the application of 
machinery, but unless the coir could be made at 
least as cheaply by steam power as by hand, 
there can be no gain in the adoption of the costly 
process. The superior brightness and evenness of 
appearance is but of little value in the estimation 
of the manufacturer who finds in the material 
produced by the labour of women and children, 
an article good enough for his wants. If coir could 
be converted into a substitute for twine or whip- 
cord or woven into cloth, its worth would of course 
be greatly enhanced, but it is a hanh brittle fibre, 
and breaks shortly off if sharp turns are taken with 
it. It will not pay then to employ Bteam engines 
in the manufacture of an article like coir which 
can be had in Jaffna at 4s. 6d; per cwt., but a 
maohine invented by Mr. Thomas of the Marandahn 
Iron Works is likely to be of much service on coconut 
estates. It is worked by hand, and can turn out, 
it is said, one cwt daily, which is worth on an 
average of distances throughout the island at least 
ten shillings. The nut is only steeped in water for 
a few hours, and the product is of the first quality 
in point of appearance'. Coir fibre averages about 
20s. per cwt. in the home market.* 
The long fibres of the Caryota Urens (Kitool), are 
held in much esteem as a substitute for whalebone 
in brush making. They are procurable to a con- 
siderable extent in the hilly districts, and are worth 
on the average about 9d per lb.f 
The fibre question deserves the utmost attention 
on the part of those who are charged with the duty 
of investigating and developing the resources of 
the island. 
STARCHES. 
Aerowroot (Maranta Anindinacea). — This plant 
grows to perfection in almost every part of the island, 
but gives the largest yield perhaps in the hilly 
districts. The cultivation exactly resembles that of 
the potato. The ground is either ploughed or dug 
in trenches, and the roots or suckers, for either will 
propagate the plant, are set in rows two feet apart, 
with a distance of say twelve inches between each 
plant. As it comes up, the earth should be gathered 
round it, and if planted in the dry season, it will 
require watering for a couple of months. The soil 
should be weeded, and the leaves pruned if they 
grow too luxuriantly. The crop is about seven 
months coming to maturity, and the yield depends 
upon the care bestowed on the cultivation and the 
richness of the soil. A loose friable earth is the 
best adapted for the purpose. At Borella, near 
Colombo, the outturn is about 21 cwt. per acre, but 
in the West Indies it is as much as six or eight 
tons, and there is no doubt that at least double the 
first-named amount could be obtained as an average 
in this island. The labour when entirely performed 
by hand amounts to about 70 days' work per acre, 
and the price paid for the roots at present is 6s per 
cwt. ; allowing the whole business of cultivation to 
be carried on by adult laborers, paid at the rate of 
7Jd. per diem, the profit to the owner of the soil is 
above £4 per aore. 
The manufacture as carried on in Ceylon is an 
affair of the simplest kind. A roller of about eight 
inches in diameter, and about two feet in length, is 
fixed against a piece of wood, which is secured by 
a couple o£ uprights. The roller is covered with a 
* The price of coir fibre now is from £20 to £32 
per ton. The export from Ceylon in 1888 was 22,090 
cwt. — Ed. 
t The export of kitul fibre from Ceylon in 1888 was 
1,703 cwt., valued at 1146,074.— Ed. 
sheet of tin, pierced with holes like a nutmeg grater, 
and it is set in motion by a wheel just like that of 
the native turner which communicates with a smaller 
one on the spindle of the roller. A small space is 
left between the roller and the board, and the roots 
having first been washed and peeled with the fingers 
are chopped into it, a little water, being occasionally 
used. As the roller revolves, the rasped root falls 
into a trough placed below it, and is carried to 
another trough where it receives a first washing. 
The icoolly fibre which floats on the top of the 
starch is then taken off, and the latter is put into 
a trough lined with lead, where it receives successive 
washings until the last water comes off colorless. 
The arrowroot is then found at the bottom in the 
shape of a solid white substanoe. A clean oloth 
pressed upon it absorbs the remaining surface 
moisture, and it can then be cut with a wooden or 
copper knife and laid in the sun to dry. When 
the water is perfectly expelled, the lumps break into 
small pieces, and the starch is fit for the market. 
Great care should be taken not to pack it whilst in 
a damp state, and for long voyages it should be put 
up in tins. The local selling price is at present Is. 
per lb., but 9d. is the wholesale rate. The arrow- 
root exported from Ceylon is said to be equal if not 
superior to the best kinds from the West Indies. 
Six men can manufacture a hundredweight of 
arrowroot in a day, with the aid of the very simple 
machinery above described, to do which they have 
to manipulate above 7 cwt. of roots, the yield of 
starch being 15 per cent. The cost of the raw 
material being £2 2s, labour 3s 9d, and the price of 
arrowroot being 9d per lb., the manufacturer's 
profit per cwt. is £1 18s 3d, or allowing for con- 
tingencies say £1 15s. No bad return for the slender 
capital required in the business. 
Bitter Cassava (Jatropha Manihot). — This plant, 
which grows as a weed nearly over the whole island, 
furnishes the well-known tapioca and cassava of 
commerce. The roots are treated for the starch 
exactly the same way as the arrowroot, but to make 
tapioca, the meal is placed before thoroughly dried 
upon hot plates, when it granulates and takes the 
shape in which it is found in the market. The 
cassava is the starch prepared throughout like 
arrowroot. But the water which comes off the first 
washing is an active poison, and the starch is only 
fit for food, when the whole moisture has been driven 
off and the meal has been for some time exposed 
to fire or the sun's rays. No use is made in Ceylon 
of this dangerous liquid, but when boiled down to 
the consistence of molasses, it forms, strange to say, 
one of the most valuable bases of sauce, and is 
the famous " Casareep" of the West Indies. 
Tapioca is an article of great value as food, its 
nutritive qualities as compared with wheat being, 
it is said, 6 to 1. In Demerara an acre of it has yielded 
25 tons, but it has not been cultivated in Ceylon as 
yet, except for fences. Two-fifths of that yield 
would give a ton of starch worth to the grower, at 
the rate paid for the roots in Colombo no less than 
£40. One-fourth of that sum would pay him well, 
for the plant requires no more cultivation or care 
than the castor tree, to which it bears a strong 
resemblance ; and in that case, the manfacturer 
purchasing his raw material at the rate of 10s per 
cwt. of starch, paying 5s for labour, and selling the 
prepared article at 6d per lb. would clear 41s per cwt. 
The local selling price is at present Is 3d per lb.* 
Pannan Nillingoes — This is the Tamil name of 
the tubers which spring from the fruit of the 
Palmyra tree, when planted in the ground and left 
* A considerable quantity of the roots grown at 
Henara'goda did not pay the cost of carriage to 
Colombo.— Ed, 
