836 ANNUAL KEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



sidered essential, and experiments are in progress to develop a grass 

 that will produce good hillside pasture and which is drought resist- 

 ant. Among the new introductions of forage plants which give 

 promise of having considerable value arc the molasses grass {Melinis 

 minuti flora) , Rhodes grass, and Paspalum dilatatum. 



The plant pathologist has been giving especial attention to diseases 

 of the coffee plant, and particularly to one that has been suspected 

 as being harbored by coffee shade, passing from that to the coffee 

 tree. A study has been made of a disease which attacks the coffee 

 berry, and the fungus causing it has been definitely determined. A 

 new disease which attacks the trunk of the tree has been partially 

 worked out. A bud rot of the coconut different from any hitherto 

 reported has been found, and inoculation experiments have demon- 

 strated the ability of the organism in question to produce the disease. 

 A canker disease of cacao has been discovered, and inoculation ex- 

 periments show that it is caused by the same fungus as that occurring 

 in Surinam. A study has been made of the so-called banana disease, 

 and numerous inoculations have been made with an organism which 

 is considered parasitic, but without positive results. The effects of 

 soil disinfection and the use of fertilizers on this disease are being 

 tested. Some work is being carried on on the gummosis of citrus 

 trees, anthracnose of grapefruit, etc. 



The entomologist during the past season began studies of coffee 

 insects and the mango fruit fly {Anastrepha sp.). The propagation 

 and distribution of beneficial insects and fungi has been continued, 

 and a colony of Aphis-feeding ladybirds {HifpodamAa convergens) 

 introduced. Work in bee keeping has been continued, and experi- 

 ments are being made with cement for use in the construction of 

 stands, bases, and brood chambers for bees. A tachinid parasite of 

 the adult May beetle has been found abundant in coffee plantations, 

 and this parasite is being propagated by the station for distribution. 



In order to facilitate the work of the station the insular govern- 

 ment has set aside for the use of the station 200 acres of land about 

 a mile from the present station site, and this will be largely devoted 

 to fruit growing. 



The efforts of the station to aid in the establishment of new in- 

 dustries and the development of others that were formerly of com- 

 paratively little importance seem to be meeting with success. 



GUAM STATION. 



The completion of the new office building has made it possible to 

 better systematize the work of the Guam station, and the additional 

 space has enabled the installation of a A^ery complete system of files 

 and records and given room for the growing reference library. A 

 storehouse for the protection of the farm tools has been erected, and 

 also a barn for the accommodation of the live stock. 



The governor of Guam, G. R. Salisbury, ceded to the station for 

 its use a tract of about 130 acres of land adjoining that purchased 

 in 1910. Much of this land is rough and rolling and sparsely cov- 

 ered with native grasses. Some is capable of cultivation, while most 

 of the tract can be used for pasture. It represents a type of land 

 that is of considerable extent on the island, and any successful 

 experiments carried out on this tract will be of wide application. 



