53 



but the process may often be shortened by adding lime. When 

 the palms have been removed, a crop of plantains or other garden 

 produce can be immediately grown with safety, as the disease does 

 not spread to any of the common crops seen. After a year, if 

 treated as above, betel palms may be transplanted to the infected 

 place and will probably escape attack. 



As regards the identity of the fungus, little can be said. From 

 the presence of what are known as " clamp-connections" in the 

 mycelium, it is probably one the of " higher" fungi — toadstools, 

 bracket fungi or their allies. One such was found very frequently 

 on the base of the stem of dead trees and has been identified as 

 Fomes hicidits, a common tropical fungus, which there is consider- 

 able reason to suspect of parasitism on trees. But it is quite 

 impossible to speak with any degree of certainty, and the actual 

 working out of the cause of the disease would probably occupy 

 a mycologist for many months. Enough has been said above to 

 make it clear that the disease is a root rot and that there is 

 evidence of its spread chiefly through the soil : and this being so, 

 the treatment must follow the lines above suggested, direct cure 

 being out of the question. 



DISEASE OF PALMYRA AND OTHER PALMS IN GODAVARI. 



It was stated in 1904 that a disease was ravaging the palmyra 

 palm {Borassus flabcllifer) plantations which are such a feature of 

 the landscape in the Godaoari Delta. Next year it was reported 

 that coco-nut palms were also being attacked, and the danger 

 which might arise if such a disease spread to the rich palm-growing 

 districts of South India was at once apparent. 



The disease is said to have been noticed as far back as 1897 

 It has, however, only attracted attention by its extension wit hi. 

 the past two or three years. It is said to have been seen first in 

 Addunkivarilanka, an island in the north channel of the Godavari. 

 From here it spread to the Amalpuram taluk on the southern bank 

 and to the Ramachandrapuram taluk on the northern bank. It is 

 now found in an area on both sides of the northern channel, 

 occupying the whole of the Amalpuram taluk except the swampy 

 district towards the sea, while on the Ramachandrapuram side it 

 has reached Anaparti, about twelve miles from the river. Along 

 the banks it extends some thirty miles, from the vicinity of the 

 French settlement of Yanam to Madiki and Lolla. As in most 

 other cases of infectious disease, it does not occupy an absolutely 

 continuous area. Some villages have escaped though surrounded 

 by diseased localities, and in some directions extension has pro- 

 gressed much more than in others. Thus the disease has been 

 known at Polanka for six or eight years, and a mile or two to the 

 east the palms are dead in great numbers ; yet another mile along 

 the canal not a single case was seen in thousands of palms visible 

 from the banks. It may, however, be said in a general way, that 

 in a circle from the centre at Addunkivarilanka where it is said 

 to have started, with a radius of fourteen miles, most of the villages 

 are affected. In the portion of the Coconada taluk towards the 



