INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1916-17 07 



in India and the first time any potato scabbing organism — 

 •common though they are in the West— has been found in 

 this country. A considerable amount of time was given to 

 the identification of tea and coffee parasites sent in by the 

 officers of the Planters' Associations concerned or person- 

 ally collected in previous years. In tea, Mr. Tunstall, Myco- 

 logist to the Indian Tea Association, has taken up the study 

 of the numerous root diseases, and amongst the material he 

 sent in was found Sphcerostilbe repens, B. and Br., now first 

 recorded as a tea parasite, and Rosellinia bothrina, (B. and 

 Br.) Sacc. not previously known in India but found on tea 

 in Ceylon. In coffee it was found that the Java " spider's 

 web ' disease and the widely distributed brown eye-spot 

 disease (Cercospora coffeicola B. and Cke.) both occur in 

 India, but are apparently uncommon. The suspected para- 

 site Pythium gracile, Schenk, occurred on young tobacco, 

 and Babu L. S.~ Subramanium was able to get it into cul- 

 ture, thus allowing of an accurate examination of its para- 

 sitic tendencies. So far it has been proved to attack ginger 

 rhizomes readily, causing the soft rot disease which was 

 described in the Agricultural Journal of India (Vol. VI, 

 1911, p. 139), as prevalent in Rangpur and Surat. It is 

 also parasitic on tobacco and probably other crops. It is 

 hoped to publish an account of this work shortly. Experi- 

 ments with the smut of bajra (Pennisetum typhoideum) 

 established that this disease is not influenced by rotation 

 of fields, thereby suggesting that it is seed-borne. Attempts 

 ;at seed disinfection have, however, failed. An apparently 

 new disease of paddy due to the attack of a species of 

 Cephalosporium or Verticillium was received from Lyall- 

 pur. The fungus is being studied and inoculations have 

 been tried. The damage at Lyallpur was estimated at 15 

 per cent, of the crop and it is possible that a new and seri- 

 ous parasite of paddy has been discovered. 



V. Miscellaneous. 



The problems connected with international legislation 

 against plant diseases, continued to engage attention. In 



