16 HISTORY AND CAUSE OF THE COCONUT BUD-EOT. 



the windward side. It is probable that this was the same deadly disease. I saw a 

 great number of these palms of different ages in various stages of the disease, and at 

 several localities. * * * The inhabitants have been most persevering in their 

 efforts to reestablish their coconut walks, but it is of no avail. ^ 



Mr. Fawcett also describes the disease in full as like that of Jamaica, 

 which, in turn, is similar to that of Cuba. 



British Honduras. — A disease not due to insects has been noticed 

 on the coconut trees of Honduras for some j^ears. It has been 

 reported as follows: 



It is known as "fever," and at present no accurate account has been given of its 

 symptoms or of its prevalence. * * * From the little known about it, it appears 

 to be allied to one or other of the diseases (if, indeed, they are not the same) observed 

 in Demerara in 1875-6, and in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1891. * * * According 

 to Mr. Hunter, 50 to 80 per cent of the trees attacked by the weevil show signs of the 

 disease at the top first. This may be merely a misinterpretation of the early signs of 

 injury due to weevil grubs before they have been noticed in the trunk, but the state- 

 ment is of importance and should be confirmed or refuted. In his e\adence Mr. 

 Baber says he "has a small spot on the seaside in Serango Bight (very swampy). He 

 there noticed that the trees died off very rapidly, although of various ages from 7 to 10 

 years. Does not know the cause of death; some trees on better land close by were 

 not affected." Mr. Schofield states that his plantation was apparently healthy on 

 the 24th of December. * * * On the 7th of January he discovered some 15 trees 

 more or less affected; some had actually fallen over, others had their fronds broken 

 and trailing on the ground, while the rest from their yellow and drooping appearance 

 showed plainly that they also were diseased.^ 



The following extract is from a letter to the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture from BeUze, British Honduras, dated April 12, 

 1907: 



We have in this colony thousands of trees killed every year either by insects, bac- 

 teria, or a combination of both. 



These reports from British Honduras indicate that the disease 

 referred to can scarcely be any other than the bud-rot. 



Trinidad. — In Trinidad a disease occurs along the west coast 

 (fig. 3) and in the interior, leaving the extensive groves of the east 

 coast untouched. 



Mr. J. H. Hart, formerly superintendent of the Botanical Gardens, 

 says : 



My observations lead me to conclude that the plantation itself affords distinct evi- 

 dence that there has been for many years a succession of deaths among the trees on 

 certain areas, which latter appear to have been replanted several times over. In 

 my opinion this is strong evidence that the disease is not new but has been present in 

 more or less severity for years. ^ 



I Fawcett, W. Report on the Cayman Islands. Bulletin 11, Botanical Department of Jamaica, Fel> 

 ruary, 1889, pp. 3-4. 



s Blandford, W. H. Palm Weevil in British Honduras. Kew Bulletin, Nos. 74 and 75, 1893, pp. 27-60. 



» Hart, J. H. Bud-Rot Disease in Coconuts, Gulf Coast, 1905. Preliminary Report. Bulletin of Mis- 

 cellaneous Information, Botanical Department of Trinidad, October, 1905, pp. 242-243. 



228 



