HAIGH, Dr. J. C. A Manual on the Weeds of the Major Crops of Ceylon. Colombo: Ceylon Government Press. 1951.
Royal 8vo. Original screw-bound cloth-covered boards; pp. [iv], 50 colour-printed plates, each accompanied by a printed leaf with description and use of the plants, plant names in Latin, Tamil, Sinhalese and English; slight bumping to corners, otherwise a very good copy.
Very rare first edition of this manual of plants considered to be weeds by Sri Lankan rubber and coconut planters, gardeners and farmers. A gardener once told the cataloguer "a weed is a plant that you don't want to be in that particular place at the moment". However, the text explains that these 'unwanted' plants can have medicinal properties, provide shade for young plants or cover fences, soil and buildings. Further notes are on the means of eradication or control.
Haigh was a botanist at the Department of Agriculture. The drawings are based on the herbarium collection kept at Royal Botanic Gardens of Peradeniya near Kandy.
SKU: 2124022