V^OL. IV. No. 90. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



299 



BUD-ROT OF COCOA-NUT PALM. 



x\ttentiou was first called to tins disease during the 

 American occupation of Cuba. In 1901, Mr. Busck was 

 sent by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Cuba, ancl 

 subsequently reported upon the entomological aspect of 

 the disease. Soon afterwards, ;Mr. Earle was sent to -lamaica 

 to investigate it there, and his observations were published 

 in the Wtst Indian Bulletin, Vol. IV, p. i. The disease has 

 since been heard of as occurring on the mainland in Central 

 America, so that it can be assumed to occur all round 

 the Caribbean Sea. Information has now come to hand 

 from Trinidad which points to its becoming eiiidemic in 

 some parts of that island. On. one estate alone over 2,000 

 palms have already been lost. 



A few short notes on the general appearance of the 

 disease may therefore be interesting ; for, unless it is taken 

 in hand, it must eventually destroy the cocoa-nut industry 

 of the '\^^est Indies. The general symptoms of the disease 

 appear to be the yellowing and fall of the outer leaves, the 

 shedding of nuts and, later, the death of the whole crown. 

 As to the origin of the disease, opinion seems to be divided : 

 Mr. Earle states that the organism develops in the sweet 

 coatings of all the young parts cjf the plant, thence eating its 

 way into the sheathing bases of the petioles and attacking 

 the flowering sheaths. Finally, it reaches the terminal bud 

 or cabbage, which becomes involved in the vilest sort of 

 bacterial rot, and the death of the palm quickly follows. 

 Dr. Erwin Smith, who was later sent to Cuba, states that 

 it is a disease of the undeveloped tissues of the central crown 

 and stops promptly with the harder tissues of the palm. 

 The Hon. W. Fawcett, Director of Public Gardens at 

 Jamaica, agrees with :Mr. Earle, and has had remedial measures 

 carried on under his supervision Avith the view of keeping 

 the disease in check. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture has 

 arrested the disease in several cases, when it has been applied 

 before the disease has gone too far. This beneficial use of 

 Bordeaux mixture points to the origin of the disease really 

 being more or less superficial and not being so deep-seated 

 as Mr. Earle and Mr. Smith assert. They seem to be 

 convinced that bacteria are really at the root of the evil. 

 Bacteria, it is true, are often found in ^ diseased 

 plants in enormous numbers, but they are living only 

 on tissues that have already been disintegrated and have 

 decayed. An uninjured plant is impregnable to their 

 attacks. The sole and only channels of communication 

 between the interior of the plant and the outside world are 

 the stomata, ahd these open into a closed system of air-filled 

 intercellular spaces, which are shut off from the cells 

 themselves. If bacteria, therefore, are washed into stomata, 

 they find nothing but moist air, and bacterial spores cannot 

 germinate without nutriment. Wounds on plants are due to 

 three causes— (a) natural causes from wind, etc., (b) insects, 

 (c) fungi. In the case of a wound caused by wind, etc., the 

 open surface is soon shut oti' by the development of an impene- 

 trable layer of cork below the wound, which, therefore, inakes 

 the entrance of bacteria to deeper tissues almost as difficult as 

 in the case of an uninjured plant. Both fungi and fly larvae 

 have been found in the parts longest diseased ; but it is 

 asserted by Mr. Smith that the advancing margin of the 

 decay was occupied only by bacteria. The ciuestion therefore 

 to be solved is : How have the bacteria got there l Until 

 something definite is known about the way infection is 

 carried on, no remedy can be suggested ; for a disease can 

 only be exterminated when attacked at the weakest time of 

 its life-history. The seriousness of the disease in several of 

 the West India Islands shows that only the most energetic 

 action is likely to avail. 



HURRICANE INSURANCE. 



The following note on the acheiue for insuring 

 plantations against hurricanes in the West Indies, 

 which has been drawn up by his Excellency the; 

 Acting Governor of the Leeward Islands, is ext.racted 

 from the West India Committee Ci.rcalar. Brief 

 reference was made to this scheme in the -i'Ji'i'- 

 cultiiral News (Vol. IV, p. 2CS):— 



;Mr. H. Hesketh Bell, the Administrator of Dominica, 

 whci, during the absence of Sir C. Courtcnay Knollys, is now 

 administering the Government of the Leeward Islands, has 

 favoured us with a memorandum, which he has drawn up 

 primarily for the consideration of the members of Lloyds, 

 regarding the possibilities of insuring against the effects of 

 hurricanes in the West Indies, with special reference to the 

 conditions prevailing in Dominica and the other islands of 

 the Lesser Antilles. The object of this memorandum is to 

 show that (1) hurricanes do not occur in the AVest Indies as 

 frequently as is generally believed ; (2) reports of damage.'! 

 and disasters caused by them have often been much 

 exaggerated ; (3) insurance against losses could be effected 

 with advantage to the landowner and with profit to the 

 underwriters. 



Under the first heading, Mr. Bell deals with the 

 freipiency of hurricanes, and the characteristics of those 

 which occur in the West Indies, and gives a table showing 

 the hurricanes which appear to have visited the British 

 Islands in the Leeward group from 1800 to 187-5. These 

 are only seven in number, and it is pointed out that, 'though 

 the formation of hurricanes in the Western Atlantic is an 

 almost annual occurrence, the eftects of these storms on 

 islands in the Caribbean Sea are only to be feared when the 

 track of a hurricane happens to pass directly over or very 

 near to them.' Such an event is far more rare than it is 

 usually believed to be. 



Thanks to the kind assistance of the Hon. Francis 

 Watts, C.M.G., Mr. Bell has been able to furnish a chart 

 showing very clearly all the hurricanes that have passed 

 through the eastern portion of the Caribbean Sea since 

 1878 to the present year, and this record is sufficiently long 

 to give a reasonably correct idea of the risks to be feared 

 from hunicanes. In the second part :M:r. Bell points out 

 that press reports and accounts of hurricanes, written just 

 after they have taken place, are nearly always greatly 

 exaggerated, and the first estimates of the damage done by 

 such storms are very incorrect. The fragile construction of 

 the huts and cottages of the lower classes renders them 

 easily damaged, but these may be repaired without great 

 loss, iluch harm has been done to the West Indies by highly 

 coloured reports of these catastrophies, and stress is laid 

 on the point that while the damage and distress caused by 

 a great hurricane, such as the :Montserrat one in 1899, can 

 hardly be exaggerated, every hurricane is not neamarilt/ 

 a great disaster. Under the third heading, Mr. Bell outlines 

 a "scheme of insurance, and gives certain details regarding 

 the suggested assessment of damage, which we shall hope to 

 publish in our next issue. 



There can be no doubt that any scheme of insurance at 

 reasonable rates of premiums would be enthusiastically 

 welcomed, and that by thus materially reducing the 

 probability of loss from hurricanes, agricultural enterprise in 

 the West Indies would be relieved of its greatest handicap. 

 If Mr. Bell "succeeds in inducing members of Lloyds to accept 

 this class of risk, he will have earned the gratitude of all 

 planters and intending settlers in the West Indies. 



