4C. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Januarv 31, 1914. 



FUNGUS NOTES. 



SUMMARY OF INFORMATION RESPECT- 

 ING PLANT DISEASES IN 1913. 

 II. 

 In the last issue of the Agrindtimd Kevs a summary 

 was presented of the information concerning the diseases 

 affecting sugarcane, citrus plants, Hevea, cacao and cotton. 

 In the following article, a digest of the information given 

 during the past year on miscellaneous mycological matters is 

 presented. 



BANANA. 



The Panama disease of banana has been recently des- 

 cribed by S. F. Ashby in Jamaica, and an account of his 

 work may be found on page 206. The results accord very 

 closely with those of Drosc in Surinam and it is probable 

 that we are now on fairly sure ground with regard to this 

 long standing source of contradictions. The disease is 

 described as being due to a fungus with Fusarium and 

 Cephalosporium stages The effect of its action is the 

 choking of the vessels, thereby curtailing the water-supply 

 of the plant. 



ENTOMOGENOUS FUNGI. 



The preliminary note published by T. Fetch in the 

 Annals of Botani/ and summarized on page 14, deals with an 

 interesting new group of entomogenous fungi, including 

 .species of Septobasidium and Thelephora, which occur in 

 patches on stems and branches of trees, and are now 

 announced to be parasitic on the scale insects occurring in 

 those situations. Such fungi are common in some of the 

 West Indian Islands. A new Isaria occurring on the green 

 bug A'e-.ara riridula in Grenada is mentioned on page 7S, 

 where also occurs a note on Aschersonia on scale insects. 

 In the same article a review is given of work by A. T. Speare 

 in Hawaii on fungi parasitic on insects attacking the sugar- 

 cane. This includes an Aspergillus on mealybugs which is 

 apparently the same that is so common in the West Indies. 

 It is described in this paper as A. pfuusittcus. A species of 

 Entomopthora difficult to detect in the field is also recorded 

 as exercising very considerable control of sugar cane mealy- 

 bugs. The green JIuscardine fungus occurs in Hawaii on 

 weevil borer and hard back grubs. Entomogenous fungi on 

 C'occidae in Japan are recorded on page 334. Some of the.se 

 are the same species which are well known in the West 

 Indies; others have not been recorded here. 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANT r)ISE.\SES. 



A dry rot of tannias in Jamaica investigated by Ashby is 

 described on page 30. An etl'ect is produced on the plant which 

 resembles that caused by drought. The tubers turn brown 

 and decay. Infection takes place through wounds on the tuber 

 and the disease is largely spread by planting infected material. 

 A leaf spot disease of Eucalyptus in Montserrat, apparently 

 due to bacteria, is described on page 94. On page 174, a 

 disease of Agave, which occurs in Antigua and Trinidad, is 

 dealt with in a summary of work by T. J. Shaw in India. 

 From India there comes also an account of a new disease of 

 the Castor Oil plant by J. T. Dastur. The causative fungus is 

 Flivtophthora j'amsitica. It destroys seedlings and attacks 

 the" leaves of older plants. It is unable to retain its vitality 

 in the soil so long as two months, and does not appear to be 

 able to infect other plants. The information concerning it 

 will be found on pages 238 and 2.54. In view of the occur- 

 rence in the West Indies of various sclerotial diseases, a paper 

 J>r Shaw on the disease of rice in India caused by Srlerotivm 



ory.ae is of considerable interest (page 318). The fungus 

 was found to be an active parasite. Tobacco wilt disease 

 in India due to a. bacterium is described on page 350 in a 

 summary of a paper by C. M. Hutchinson. 



GENERAL MYCOLOGY. 



A discussion of recent work on the parasites belonging 

 to the genus Glomerella, described in a bulletin of the 

 LTnited States Department of Agriculture by C. L. Shear 

 and Anna K. Wood appears on page 190. Anthracnoses 

 caused by imperfect forms probably pertaining to this 

 genus are common everywhere. 'I'he authors dealt with 

 material from thirty-six host plants, which they refer as 

 a result of their cultural experiments to three species of 

 Glomerella, one of which occurs on thirty-four of the hosts, 

 including such diverse plants as palms, oranges, apples, 

 gooseberries, cacao and arrowroot. The question of internal 

 and external legislation against plant pests and diseases is 

 discussed on page 414, apropos of the issue of a bulletin 

 by T. Fetch giving the history of such measures in Ceylon. 

 It is pointed out that Ceylon has taken the lead among 

 tropical countries in providing administrative machinery for 

 dealing with diseases found to exist within the country. 



HOW TO MAKE BORDEAUX MIXTURE 



ADHESIVE. 



The following article has been taken from the 

 Agricidtural (razcUc of New South Wales, as being 

 likely to prove interesting in the West Indies: — 



At the last March meeting of the Academy of Sciences, 

 Messrs. V. Vermorel and F. Danthony indicated the results 

 of investigations carried out by them at the Viticultural 

 Station of Villefranche Sur Saone on the processes adopted 

 for the purpose of giving adhesive properties to spraying 

 mixtures used for vines. 



The following ace the principal conclusions: the addition 

 of gelatine permits of solutions being obtained having great 

 superficial viscosit^-, and we have advised its addition to the 

 copper mixtures to make them adhesive. Gelatine in doses 

 varying from 3 to S oz. per 100 gallons can be used for 

 Paris green and for acid Bordeaux Burgundy mixtures. On 

 the contrary, we have found that in the alkaline mixture 

 the soda present renders the gelatine insoluble, thereby 

 diminishing its superficial viscosity. 



We have consequently looked for a substance, costing 

 little, which could take the place of gelatine. Aunng the 

 substances we tried, casein has given the best results. It is 

 suHicient to add to a Bordeaux mixture prepared in the 

 ordinary way from 3 to 8 oz. casein, first dissolved in 

 a small quantity of milk of lime, to obtain a very adhesive 

 spraying mixture. In an acid mixture casein would become 

 insoluble and consequently inactive. 



A few notes may be added to this information. Acid 

 mixtures are those which turn red the blue litmus paper. 

 They are little used here, if at all. Milk of lime can be 

 easily made by mixing some of the .slaked lime with water 

 sufficient to make into a milky liquid. 



In a further communication Messrs. Vermorel and 

 Danthony suggest that the casein should be dissolved by the 

 following process: mix intimately 3| oz. of powdered burnt 

 lime with H oz. of powdered casein. Add to the mixture 

 very little water and work it well into a paste. Thin it down 

 with successive small quantities of water till about a quart 

 of liquid is obtained, which is then to be added to the 

 Fiordeaux mixture. 



