123 



gontinue the life of the fungus and, therefore, all dead or diseased 

 material in an infected area should be entirely destroyed and not 

 left to accumulate. 



(a) All dead and dying trees should be cut clown and burned 



whenever that is possible. When the trees contain a 

 large amount of sap and still bear a fair number of green 

 leaves it is almost impossible to burn, unless a number 

 are collected and burnt in a pit after the manner of 

 ' charcoal fires.' Otherwise these trees should be cut up 

 and buried deeply with lime. The adoption of the burn- 

 ing method would probably prove to be the most effective 

 but experience will show whether it be the most practical. 



(b) All diseased leaves and petioles that have fallen to the 



ground should be collected and immediately burned on 

 the spot. 



(c) On no account should rubbish, such as husks, etc., be 



allowed to accumulate in an infected area, for this may 

 prove beneficial to the growth of the fungus, which may 

 continue to live on it, and thus it would form a base from 

 which the disease can spread to living trees. 



(d) The basal portion of the diseased trees and as many 



diseased roots as possible should be destroyed. It may 

 be expensive to ' grub up ' these stumps, but when it is 

 borne in mind that the fungus can live in the old roots 

 and is liable to attack young supplies, as well as pro- 

 bably to spread through the soil to healthy trees, such 

 a destruction is necessary. An old East Indian coco- 

 nut authority* holds that a large number of the roots of 

 a coco-nut tree may be destroyed by cutting the tree 

 near to the ground, leaving the stump for some time to 

 dry, and then building a heap of trash and forming a fire 

 (preferably closed by putting a thin layer of soil on the 

 top) over the remains of the stump. In this way he 

 states most of the roots will be destroyed, for once the 

 fire has obtained a good hold it will travel for some dis- 

 tance down the roots. 



There is also another danger of leaving old trees and rubbish 

 about the plantation for they offer sufficient food for beetles, etc. 

 which may increase rapidly and become a source of danger. An 

 instance of this was noticed on a somewhat neglected estate in 

 La Brea, where numbers of trees were infested with insect pests, 

 that were doing considerable damage. 



It is necessary that all cultivators of coco-nuts should combine 

 and have all diseased materials destroyed for it is useless for any 

 planter to keep his estate clear of all disease while his neighbour 

 neglects trees which become a permanent source of infection. 

 Only the most energetic action is likely to prove beneficial, for it 



All about the "Coco-nut Palm," Ferguson, Ceylon, p. Ixxxiii. We have no 

 experimental evidence of the value of this suggestion in practice, but it might be 

 given a trial in the dry season when the weather conditions are favourable. 



