Yol. V. No. 112. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS! 



243 



1. Have you observed any ajipreciable amount of disease 

 among your canes during the present season ? 



2. Is disease more prevalent than during the past live years ! 

 3 Wliat kinds of disease are must [irevalent ! 



4. Is disease coniinedtu, or more pievalent in, any particu- 

 lar locality '. 



5. Wiiicli suffer more — jjlants or ratooHS ? 



6. Are any particular varieties of cane attacked worse than 

 others ? if so, what are they, and b}^ wliiit diseases are they 

 attacked ? 



7. Do any particular varieties of cane appear to be conspicu- 

 iiusly free from diseases ! if S(_i, what varieties are they '! 



8 State any facts of interest wliicli liave come under your 

 notice, bearing on the subject of cane diseases. 



The object of the inquiry was two-fold : to ascertain 

 whether, in the opinion of the planters themselves, there is 

 any appreciable amount of disease present in their canes 

 and whether this is increasing, and also to arouse a lively and 

 critical interest in the question of cane diseases, so as to 

 prevent any insidious attack of disease from obtaining a 

 foothold before general attention is called to it. 



In only four out of the twentj'-eight replies is it 

 suggested that there is any appreciable amount of disease 

 present this season ; the other thirty-four replies are to the 

 effect that there is no appreciable amount of disease. Of 

 the two who report an appreciable amount of disease, one 

 observer says that there is not very mucli, while the other 

 says it is confined to small patches ; another reports a little 

 root disease, while the fourth refers to injuries from insect pests. 



The replies are almost unanimous in stating that disease 

 is less prevalent than din-ing the past five years. One 

 observer says he thinks that in his district diseases are slightly 

 more prevalent this year, while another expresses the belief 

 that the moth borer is increasing. 



The replies are conclusive evidence that the i)lanters 

 themselves regard their canes as reasonably free from disease 

 and that they think diseases are less prevalent than during 

 the past five years ; even those who do not e.xpressly agree 

 with tbese two statements only refer to small amounts of 

 disease. This is important evidence and satisfactory as far 

 as it goes, but it is hoped that planters will not thereby 

 be lulled into a false sense of security but rather be stimu- 

 lated to further, more critical, and more systematic observa- 

 tion during the coming season. 



As planters find so little evidence of disease, not many 

 points of importance are brought forward respecting the 

 diseases themselves. There are several references to the 

 existence of small amounts of root fungus and a smaller 

 number to small amounts of rind fungus. 



Several observers express the opinion that diseases 

 (presumably fungoid diseases) are more prevalent where the 

 soil conditions are unfavourable, for example, upon heavy, 

 badly drained clay soils, or upon thin, dry soils on hillsides. 

 The suggestion is put forward that plant canes are more 

 attacked by rind fungus and ratoon canes by root fungus. It 

 is admitted by many that the Bourbon cane is so liable to 

 attacks of rind fungus that it can no longer be profitably 

 grown. Several allusions are made to small amounts of 

 disease in the White Transparent cane ; this disease would 

 appear chiefly to be root fungus. This is somewhat significant 

 and planters should keep a careful watch ujwn this widely 

 cultivated variety. 



Two references are made to the prevalence of moth bon r 

 in B. 208, and in one case the L^ba cane is referred to as 

 badly attacked by this pest. 



There are many references to B. 147 as showing 

 considerable resistance to disease ; it appears to offer resistance 

 to root fungus — a point of some importance. 



The manager of Gunthorpe's i^actory states his impression 

 that the following canes show freedom from disease in the 

 order named: B. 147, Sealy Seedling, B. 208, B. 109, D. 9.5 ; 

 his observations are confirmed in a general manner by 

 several observers. i 



From the inquiry we gather that the planters themselves 

 are of opinion that no serious amount of disea.se exists 

 amongst their canes at the present time, and that, on the 

 whole, the amount is less than it was during the past five 

 years — a statement of very considerable importance. 



Dealing with the kinds of cane grown, it is admitted 

 that the Bourbon is so badly attacked by disease as to be 

 unprofitable ; White Transparent is showing some signs of 

 attack, chiefly of root fungus. As a variety resistant to 

 diseases, B. 147 is well spoken of, so also are Sealy Seedling, 

 B. 208, B. 109, and D. 9.5. 



These points, I think, sum up the principal views of the 

 leading planters, who, I believe, hold the opinion that there 

 is no immediate cause for anxiety in the matter of cane 

 disease, but they recognize that constant vigilance is necessary. 



On the whole, I concur in these views, but I am inclined 

 to think that the insidious nature of the attack in the case of 

 root fungus leads planters very frequently to overlook its 

 existence except in bad cases. Very often the crop may be 

 seriously lessened by the presence of root fungus without any- 

 appreciable amount of dead canes being seen. As is now 

 known, the root fungus attacks the tips of the roots and by 

 destroying them prevents the cane from obtaining a full 

 supply of moisture from the soil, hence there is often confusion 

 between the eft'ect of drought and the effect of root fungus. 

 My own observations lead me to think that root fungus is 

 more widely distributed than plan|;ers imagine and I would 

 urge their very careful attention to this point. 



The remedies for root fungus appear to be the planting 

 of other crops than cane for a year Or two. Cotton makes an 

 excellent rotation crop in this respect : there are at the 

 present moment several good illustrations of this, where canes 

 are now growing vigorously after a crop of cotton in 

 localities previously badly affected' by root fungus. In the 

 replies to questions under consideration, one planter directed 

 attention to good results in combating root fungus by growing 

 sweet potatos as a rotation crop. In addition to rotation of 

 crops, a further means of combating the disease lies in the 

 selection of resistant varieries of cahe : of these, B. 147, Sealy 

 Seedling, B. 208, B. 109, and D. 95 are favourably spoken of. 



TOBACCO CULTIVATION* IN PORTO RICO. 



The following reference to tobacco growing in Porto 

 Rico is made in the Consular Report on the island's 

 trade for 1905 :— '^ 



Tobacco during the year considerably improved its 

 position amongst the most valuable staples of export in the 

 island, both in quality and quantity, through the more 

 scientific methods of cultivation now adopted. Most attention 

 was paid to the production of a superior wrapper, which has 

 resulted in a leaf being grown uttder ' cheese cloth ' cover, 

 which, with the improved filler tobacco now grown, makes 

 a cigar that compares well with tlje best of Havana brands. 



One company alone has 250 acres under shelter, and 

 large tracts of new land are in course of preparation for the 

 same sort of planting. ' 



Tobacco to the value of £659',626 was exported during 

 the year, of which £547,326 worth was manufactured. : 



