52 REPORT OF THE AGRTCULTIJRAL RESEARCH 



out. A tea parasite, Laestadia Iheae, found in- Java some 

 12 years ago but not previously recorded in India, was re- 

 ported from the Dooars in July. It causes a leaf disease, 

 known as copper-blight, which spreads with great rapidity, 

 but appears to be closely dependent on weather conditions. 

 A note describing its characters was written by Mr. F. J. F. 

 Shaw for the January number of the Agricultural Journal 

 of India. A disease of tea seed known for many years in 

 Assam was investigated by the Imperial Mycologist in col- 

 laboration with the officers of the Scientific Department of 

 the Indian Tea Association. It lias been shown to be pro- 

 bably associated with the tea seed bug, PoecUocoris latus, 

 which punctures the seed and sucks the juice. Through 

 the opening thus made fungi are able to enter, and the sub- 

 sequent injury to the seed is due to the growth of one or 

 other of several species of rot-producing fungi at the ex- 

 pense of the seed tissues. The Tea Association is issuing 

 a pamphlet pointing out that this insect is probably much 

 more injurious in seed gardens than was previously sus- 

 pected and recommending measures for its destruction. 

 Several other tea diseases were investigated during the 

 3^ear, in particular the stem canker, the cause of which is 

 still obscure. 



(c) Soft rot of ginger. — Mr. W. McRae published an 

 account of this disease in the Agricultural Journal of In- 

 dia, April, 1911. It is prevalent in Eastern Bengal, Guja- 

 rat, and probably elsewhere. In Rangpur the loss in 

 damp soils is 10 to 15 per cent, of the crop; in bad years 

 almost the whole may be lost. The cause appears to be the 

 attack of a fungus (Pythium gracile) on the rhizomes and 

 base of the plant. As a result of experiments carried out 

 at Rangpur in 1908-09, Mr. McRae was in a position to re- 

 commend effective measures for checking the disease. 



(d) Turmeric leaf-spot. — This is a disease found all 

 over Northern India, but not usually very destructive. It 

 was found by the Imperial Mycologist to be caused by an 

 undescribed species of Taphrina, and an account of it was 

 published in the Annales Mycologici in February, 1911. 



