12 



HISTORY AND CAUSE OF THE COCONUT BUD-ROT. 



of the island (fig. 1). This strip, which is about 80 kilometers long, 

 is mostly within what is known as the Baracoa district. The bud-rot 

 has been reported at La Gloria;^ it occurs from Havana to Artemisa, 

 at Cardenas, Cienfuegos, Manzanilla, Banes; on the coast between 

 Santiago de Cuba and Cape Cruz;^ and from Cape Maisi northwest to 

 beyond Baracao. All the trees have been killed at the extreme east- 

 em end of the latter strip of land and largely about Baracoa and in 

 other more isolated places. The estimated monthly loss to the Cuban 

 industry is $10,000.3 ^he fact that coconuts are not now grown 

 commercially over the greater part of the north shore of the island, 



£/!5TER/V Ct/B^ 



'^.f>,^^ 





20« 



7S*» 74' 



Fig. 1.— Map of the eastern end of Cuba, showing the location of coconut groves (dots). The diseased 



areas are indicated by heavy shading. 



a distance of 900 to 1,100 kilometers, is attributed by some to the 

 supposed prevalence of this disease in early times in those regions. 



Diseases of the coconut palm have been reported from various 

 parts of the West Indies for some years. In many cases the descrip- 

 tions are so meager that it is impossible to identify them ^\dth the 

 bud-rot, nevertheless the one characteristic, the rot m the heart 

 tissues, is believed to apply only to this disease. In addition, the 

 dying of the central undeveloped leaves is taken as a sign of the bud- 

 rot, as it is usually the result of the rottmg of the lower tissues. 



> Merrick, F. Cocoanut Bud Rot. Cuba Review, vol. 6, April, 1908, p. 24. 

 2 Home, W. T. Bulletin No. 15, Estaci(3n Central Agron6mica de Cuba, July, 1908, p. 4. 

 » Home, Mary Tracy (Mrs. W. T. Home). The Cocoanut Industry in Cuba. Cuba Review, vol. 5, 

 no. 11, October, 1907, pp. 18-20. 

 228 



