Vol. I. No. 16. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



•243 



the joung jiortions of the coffee root.s. The disease attacks 

 plants of all ages, even those in the nursery being affected. 

 The best curative treatment is carbon bi.suljihide. The 

 disease, however, may be prevented by grafting Arabian 

 coffee on Liberian, which latter is not attacked by nematodes. 

 This jirocedure is recommended in establLsliing new planta- 

 tions and when rejilaeing diseased trees. 



I.e(xfdifca:-e oi- ru^t : It appears to be caused l>y the 

 leaf-mining larvae of a small moth (Ccmiostomn, cufffeJlu.) 



Apart from the use of lights tie author considers the 

 remedies suggested for this pest more ingenious than practi- 

 cal. He found that in the case of Arabian coffee grafted on 

 Lilierian only the older leaves were attacked. 



Collar rot ■ A disease in which the bark of the collar 

 decays. Its precise nature does not seem to be understood. 



LIBERIAN COFFEE IN MARTINIQUE. 



In discussing the possibility of the hyl)ridization of 

 Arabian and Liberian coffee, so as to jiroduce a sui)erior 

 variety coml)ining the vigour and disease resistance of 

 Liberian with the fineness and perfume of the Arabian berry, 

 the author points out that the planter has neither the time 

 nor the means to carry out this work to its logical conclusion, 

 but that such investigations should be carried on at 

 Experiment gardens su{;ported either by the [ilanters or the 

 State. Since Arabian can be grafted on Liberian coffee: it is 

 a mistake to plant the latter for fruit purjioses. 



In Java, thanks to the labours of van Riemsdyck, a 

 hybrid between Liberian and Arabian has been [iroduced 

 which is grafted on Liberian stocks. On one estate there 

 are as many as .53,000 of these grafted hybrid trees. This 

 hybrid is said to be resistant to llemihia, the coffee leaf 

 disease. 



THE (JEAFTISC; OF COFFEE. 



Gniftinr/ hy (i])proach : The Liberian seeds are sown four 

 to six weeks before the Arabian as the fonnor take longer to 

 germinate. On the develojiment of the first two permanent 

 leaves, the .seedlings are rai.sed and grafted by ap[iroach as 

 follows : — A portion of the tender stem of each along with a 

 cotyledon is cut off", the two plants bound together, ])lanted 

 in a bamboo pot and put in a shady place. In three weeks 

 the graft takes, and in five weeks, if growth is satisfactory-, 

 the Liberian shoot is cut off' as close as po.ssible and tlie 

 ligature removed. The Arabian graft has now two root 

 systems and grows rajiidly. Six months after sowing the 

 seed.s, the plants are ready to .set out in the open when the 

 Arabian stem can be cut off. The advantages of graftin" in 

 the seedling stage in the manner above are that, at this 

 period, the ti.ssues unite readily, and the Liberian root beiuf 

 grafted below the cotyledons cannot send out gormandisers. 



Graftinrj hy glijig .- This method is used in grafting 

 hybrids which cannot be grown from seeds, and where 

 grafting liy approach cannot be used. 



As carried out in the i>lantatii>n of Klein-Gitas in .Java 

 when a hybrid is grafted on Liberian, the following process 

 is used. The Liberian i)lants are about a year old and the 

 scion is taken from the extremity of a branch of the hybrid 

 and bears three whorls of leaves. After grafting, the lower 

 leaves of the graft are renewed and the plants transplanted 

 into ditches filled with river .sand, well watered and covered 



with a glass roof for three days. For the next three weeks 

 the glass roof is partly ojiened. At this point the grafts 

 which are not languishing are replanted in a nursery, or, if 

 the sea.son is favcmrable, in the ojien. 

 i;ui)i)iN(;. 

 \oung plants in bamboo [lots having only one pair of 

 permanent leaves were budded Ijy in.serting the bu<l under 

 the bark in the axils of the cotyledons. 



(iKAFTIN(i CACAO. 



As the cacao tree does not reproduce itself exactly from 

 seed and varies in bearing power, the utility of grafting any 

 special tree is therefore apparent. Only where any special 

 variety comes true from seeds can seedlings be grafted in 

 the manner adopted in the case of Liberian and x\rabiau 

 coffee. The .scions are .selected from the extremities of 

 branches where the wood has not yet hardened, and are 

 grafted on seedling stocks in bamboo pots in which the 

 first permanent leaves have ajipeared. When the grafts 

 have taken and growth has commenced, the plants are 

 gradually hardeneJ off for i)lanting in the 0[ien air. 



COLLECTING AND FORWARDING 

 FUNGOID SPECIMENS. 



Specimens of plants attacked by fungoid diseases 

 may be forwarded for examination through the Curator 

 of the Botanic Station or any officer of the Department 

 of Agriculture. In order that the specimens may 

 reach Bai'bados in the best po.ssible condition, some 

 care is necessary in their collection and packing. 

 Unless this is taken, much time and labour are often 

 wasted in the examination of unsuitable material. 



When .specimens of moist vegetable matter are 

 packed in boxes or .sent in envelopes they speedily 

 become covered with saprophytic growths which 

 frequently obscure all traces of the original cause of 

 disease and render the sj)ecimens worthless. This is 

 especially the case when the material has been 

 collectetl some days before the closing of the mails for 

 Barbados. 



Fresh specimens of diseased jilants should either 

 be suitably dried and sent in a well-ventilated package 

 or, preferably, placed in meythlated spirits, high wines 

 or rum immediately after collection and forwarder! in a 

 bottle or corked tube. When leaves, buds or twigs are 

 attacked, the specimens should show as many stages of 

 the disease as possible. When fruits, stem.s or roots 

 are attacked, diseased pieces showing all stages should 

 be cut out and placed in spirit as before. 



Specimens of bark, wood and large fungus fructifi- 

 cations which are dry should be \vraji])ed in soft paper 

 and sent in a well-ventilated ])ackage. If they are not 

 dry they should be placed in the sun and sent as abo\e. 

 When it is considered desirable to send very large 

 specimens such as portions of branches, stems, roots of 

 trees or whole cawo j)ods, these should be collected as 

 late as possible before the mail steamer leaves, and sent 

 in a well-ventilated case. 



Full notes should be sent giving details of the 

 time of appearance of the disease, the locality, the 

 damage done, the part attacked and also the date 

 when the specimens were collected. 



