78 SCIENTIFIC REPORTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



damage done ; but they seein to be proportional to the depth 

 of the tapping cut. On a certain plantation where the 

 rainfall is only 100 inches but where the tapping is very 

 fine and deep, black thread is present in an epidemic form; 

 not only is the percentage of diseased trees very high but 

 the actual damage done to the bark is very great. But 

 on other plantations where the rainfall is 200 inches or 

 more but where the tapping is rather light, black thread is 

 considerably less and seldom causes open wounds. These 

 observations have also been confirmed by inoculation experi- 

 ments. 



(5) Chillies. Die-back of chilli. Experiments in the 

 treatment of die-back, a very serious disease of chillies in 

 Bihar, caused by Vermicularia Capsici Syd., have been con- 

 tinued by Mr. Dastur in the year under review. It has 

 been found that one per cent. Burgundy mixture sprayed 

 soon after the flowers set and again a fortnight later, con- 

 siderably checks the disease, both on the plants and the 

 fruits. The percentage of the disease in fruits picked from 

 the sprayed plot of last year up to the first week of Decem- 

 ber (after which time the disease is practically negligible 

 in the fields) was 7-6, while that on fruits from the un- 

 sprayed control plots was over 33. Not only did the freshly 

 picked fruits from the sprayed plot compare favourably, in 

 regard to the percentage of disease, with those from the 

 unsprayecl plots, but they also stood drying better, the 

 market value of the sprayed fruits being thereby increased. 



Another measure that proved successful in completely 

 checking the disease was sowing the crop a month later 

 than usual on a field manured at the rate of 2 cwt. of super- 

 phosphate and 1 cwt. of soda nitrate. The manure was 

 applied to increase the yield of the late sown crop which 

 would otherwise be very poor. 



These and other measures will be again tried during the 

 coming chilli season at the end of which it is hoped to pub- 

 lish a detailed account of the study of the die-back disease. 



Anthracnose of chilli. During the year under review 

 Mr. Dastur has continued the study of Colletotrichum 



