50 



January, and the disease does not appear to have obtained a hold 

 in this district. Similarly, though the whole of the country 

 approaching the ghats obtains a very heavy rainfall, the harvest 

 is later than at Koppa in most places, and here also I was informed 

 disease does not appear. The cultivators themselves are aware 

 of the deleterious effectsof rainfallduring the maturationof the nuts. 

 At Koppa they have devised a remarkable method of protecting 

 the bunches during the monsoon. Before the commencement of 

 the rains each bunch is covered with a thatch made of the leaves 

 or expanded flower stalks of the palm. It is stated that consider- 

 able benefit has resulted from this practice. 



In endeavouring to check the disease, two objects should be 

 aimed at. The first is to revert, if possible, to the late harvested 

 crop of former years. This may be possible by altering the 

 methods of cultivation now in use in the betel gardens. To 

 ascertain if this is possible, a much fuller enquiry is necessary 

 than I was able to undertake. It may be that by a less forcing 

 treatment the palms are in many places trenched to a depth of 

 six inches, the trench filled with cattle manure, and a mulch of 

 leaves, new soil, &c, applied round their bases — a later crop would 

 be obtained. Experiments are necessary to settle this point and 

 also the degree to which it will be really effective in preventing 

 the spread of the disease. Search should also be made for later 

 varieties of betel palm, if such exist. 



The other and more efficient method of prevention is the 

 improvement of the covers used for the bunches. The covers now 

 in use are far from satisfactory. They dry and crack in fine 

 weather, and during long continued rain rot and fall to pieces. 

 They are tied over the bunches as soon as the rains begin, and no 

 disadvantage appears to result from the shade which they cause. 

 But leaky covers are likely to be worse than none at all, for 

 they check evaporation and ventilation, and preserve a moist 

 atmosphere around the bunches which is bound to favour the 

 growth of the fungus. The use of tin covers would, I believe, not 

 be beyond the means of the well-to-do owners of gardens, and 

 would be far more effective than the palm ones. An educated 

 native of Koppa informed me that he had made experiments with 

 zinc covers with very good results, the covered nuts remaining 

 quite sound while those uncovered rotted. The tin covers would 

 last for several years and, if made on a sufficiently large scale, 

 would not cost a sum beyond the reach of the ordinary betel 

 grower, and would repay their cost in a single year in all 

 probability. It is well worth while endeavouring to introduce the 

 use of these tin covers in the affected districts as a substitute for 

 the leaf ones. 



BETEL NUT PLAGUE IN SYLHET. 



The cultivation of the betel palm is one of the chief industries 

 of many tracts in Sylhet, and a serious disease would be expected 

 to attract a considerable amount of attention. It is, however, a 

 curious instance of the fatalism which is such a bar in India to 

 the application of certain sorts of scientific agricultural practice, 



