[394] The value of the exported nuts, kernels, oil, and coir of the cocoanuts in 1859, was 157,995l.
[395] Drury's Useful Plants of India.
[396] The best soil for ginger-cultivation is red earth free from gravel. At the commencement of the monsoon beds of 10 or 12 feet by 3 or 4 are formed, in which holes are dug a foot apart, which are filled with manure. The roots, hitherto carefully buried under sheds, are dug out, chipped into suitable sizes for planting (1½ to 2 inches long), and buried in the holes. The bed is then covered with a thick layer of green leaves, which serve as manure, while they keep the beds from too much dampness. Rain is requisite, but the beds must be kept from inundation, and drains are therefore cut between them. The roots or rhizomes, when old, are scalded, scraped, and dried, and thus form the white ginger of commerce.—Drury's Useful Plants of India.
[397] The tallipot or fan-palm (Corypha umbraculifera) has a stem 60 or 70 feet high, crowned with enormous fan-shaped leaves, with 40 or 50 pairs of segments. These fronds, when dried, are very strong, and are used for hats and umbrellas. The petiole is seven feet long, and the blade six feet long and thirteen feet broad.
[398] The sumach-tree (Cæsalpinia coriaria) was introduced into India from America, by Dr. Wallich, in 1842. The pods are much used for tanning purposes.
[399] Nil, blue, and giri, a mountain; from the blue Justitias which cover many of the hill-slopes.
[400] Report of Captain J. Ouchterlony, Superintendent of the Neilgherry Survey in 1848.
[401] Ferdosi.
[402] Dr. Wight says that this plant might be collected in vast quantities with little trouble or expense, and yields an excellent red dye.
[403] This nettle is frequent all over the higher ranges of the Neilgherries. The bark yields a fine strong fibre, which the natives obtain by first boiling the whole plant, to deprive it of its virulently-stinging properties, and then peeling the stalks. The textile material thus obtained is of great delicacy and strength.—Wight's Spicelegium Neilgherense. The fibre of the Neilgherry nettle is worth 200l. a ton in England, and its cultivation is likely to be a remunerative speculation.