FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 21 



tions brought from the field is surprisingly large, and this is true 

 even of collections made in regions supposed to be botanically 

 well known. In developing the work in mycology, it is planned 

 to continue the field work to build up the herbarium as rapidly as 

 possible both by collection and by exchange. 



In plant pathology very little has been done in the Philippines, 

 although this subject is one of very great economic importance. 

 It will become increasingly important with the development of 

 agriculture in the Archipelago. It is probable that there now 

 exist in the Archipelago many of the diseases of tropical plants 

 known to be caused by specific fungi, and very likely there are 

 special diseases caused by endemic, parasitic organisms. How- 

 ever, at the present time very few plant diseases are definitely 

 known to occur in the Philippines, and in no single case has any 

 careful and critical local investigation been made. We have one 

 very destructive disease of the coffee; a few apparently not 

 especially harmful diseases of the coconut, sugar cane, corn, 

 rice, and tobacco ; and a recently discovered, and apparently very 

 serious, disease of citrus fruits. While some very serious plant 

 diseases now occur in the Philippines, it seems to be well estab- 

 lished that very many serious pests in other countries have 

 never reached our Archipelago. To guard against the possible 

 inadvertent introduction of destructive fungi from other coun- 

 tries, all imported stock should be carefully inspected by a com- 

 petent, trained mycologist. Likewise all stock shipped out of 

 the Philippines should be so inspected. The plans for the coming 

 year include a general survey of the species of fungi known to 

 produce disease in plants that are now known in the Philippines 

 and a careful examination of cultivated plants whenever pos- 

 sible to detect as many of the pathogenic fungi as possible. In 

 those cases where species are known we can simply apply the 

 methods of control and eradication already perfected by mycol- 

 ogists in other countries. It is planned to investigate inten- 

 sively new forms, which are expected to appear in the course of 

 this campaign, especially if they appear to cause serious disease. 

 In the meantime reorganization of the mycological collection is 

 being pushed as rapidly as possible, species and host indices 

 prepared, and material already on hand is being placed in the 

 hands of specialists for study. In cooperation with one of the 

 chemists of the Bureau, work is being done on the effects of 

 molds on stored copra, a subject which has received little con- 

 sideration, yet apparently is one of great economic importance. 



Physiology. — Work similar to the extended discussion of the 

 Philippine dipterocaiT) forests, the chief local source of building 



