370 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 9, 1905. 



reported that 2,000 trees out of a plantation of 25,000 

 have been lost within the last six months. The 

 disease has also been causing anxiety in British 

 Guiana. 



As regards the origin of the bud-rot disease, it 

 may be mentioned that it has been stated that 

 a fungus was the primary cause of the trouble ; but 

 further investigations would appear to indicate that 

 bacteria play an important part in the causation of the 

 disease. The organism is reported to develop ' in the 

 sweet coatings of the young protected organs and 

 finally it reaches the "cabbage" or central growing 

 point, which it soon reduces to an offensive-smelling 

 mass.' 



It is probable that no remedial measures will be 

 effective in the case of palms seriously attacked. To 

 prevent the further spread of the disease all diseased 

 palms should be cut down and infected portions 

 destroyed by fire or buried with lime. Experiments 

 carried out in Jamaica have shown that spraying the 

 palms with Bordeau-x mixture on the first indication 

 of the disease is more or less effectual. As, however, 

 the disease is of a virulent character, the most 

 energetic efforts will be needed to stamp it out. 



It is of interest to note that there are indications 

 that in Jamaica there is a certain green-skinned 

 variety of cocoa-nut less liable to bud-rot than the 

 reddish and yellowish kinds. If further experience 

 should confirm this statement, it may be possible to 

 establish by careful selection a race of cocoa-nuts 

 resistant to this disease. 



It is hoped that, with the very full information 

 now available in reference to the bud-rot disease and 

 the observations and recommendations made in regard 

 to it in such widely situated localities as Cuba, 

 Jamaica, British Honduras, British Guiana, and 

 Trinidad, the members of the planting community will 

 have at their disposal ample material upon which to 

 base the identity of the disease, and the agricultural 

 officers engaged in dealing with it will be in 

 a position to recommend such practical remedies as are 

 likely to be effective and suited to local conditions. 



It may be mentioned that there is in Jamaica 

 another disease of cocoa-nuts, which has been described 

 in the West Indian Bidhtln (Vol. IV, p. 5) as the 

 ' cocoa-nut wasting disease.' In British Guiana 

 considerable damage has been done to the cocoa-nut 

 and other palms by a caterpillar which strips the 



leaves. The bud-rot does not seem to have made its 

 appearance in Barbados ; but the cocoa-nut palms in 

 that island have suffered for many years, and still 

 suffer, from the attacks of scale insects, which are 

 being carefully investigated by the Entomologist on 

 the staff of the Imperial Department of Agrictdture. 



Altogether, the outlook for the cocoa-nut industry 

 in the West Indies at the present time is not as 

 favourable as could be desired, but, provided that 

 energetic and concerted action is taken by those 

 concerned, and the advice of the various agricultural 

 officers that are dealing with the subject is closely 

 followed, serious apprehension need not be felt as to 

 the ultimate results. 



YAUTIAS OR TANNIAS. 



Mr. O. W. Barrett, formerly Botanist and Entomologist 

 at the Porto Rico Agricultural Experiinent Station, has made 

 a careful investigation of this important food plant of the 

 West Indies, and his results have recently been imblished in 

 Bulletin No. 6. 



Mr. Barrett refers to the confusion that exists between 

 the taro, so common throughout the warmer regions of 

 the Old \\orkl, and the tannier of Tropical America. He 

 says : ' Without entering upon a technical discussion of the 

 specific differences, we will dismiss the taro {Caladiwa 

 colocasia *) with the brief statement that the leaf of all its 

 varieties is peltate, that is, the petiole is attached to the 

 under surface of the blade at a point more or less remote 

 from the margin ; whereas the yautia leaf is never peltate, 

 but has the leafstalk attached to the very margin of the 

 blade.' 



The three cultivated species of yautias (known in the 

 British West Indies as tannias, tanniers, cocoes, or eddoes) 

 are described as Xmithosoma sa;/ittnefo/iu>n, X. atrovirens, 

 and X. violaceum. Some forty varieties are known in 

 Porto Rico. 



' The yautia is one of the world's oldest cultivated crops. 

 It seldom flowers and never produces seed. It is a native of 

 Tropical America and is scarcely known outside of this 

 district.' 



In chemical composition tannias do not differ materially 

 from Irish jiotatos and sweet potatos. Tliey contain about 

 26 i)er cent, of carbohydrates (mainly starch) and I '7 to 2-5 

 per cent, of jirotein. 



When G,000 to 12,000 plants are set to the acre, the 

 yield is from 7 to 15 tons of tubers per acre in ordinary soils. 

 Tannias take from eight to twelve months to mature. 



In addition to their value as a vegetable, tannias may be 

 utilized as a source of starch and flour. For tlie former it is 

 considered likely to rival the cassava. Experiments indicated 

 that 20 to 2.5 [ler cent, of starch is readily obtained from 

 fresh ' roots.' From the white varieties a starch fully as 

 white and lustrous as that from the common varieties of 

 cassava was obtained. Flour was made by grinding dried 

 slices of the peeled tubers ; 10 lb. of tubers yielded, after 

 three hours' drying in the oven, about 3 lb. of flour. The 

 cost of raw material to produce 1 tti. of flour is about 2c. 



* Synonym, Culocasia antlqiiornm., var. escnlentKiii, Scliott. 



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