133 



and thus most of the spores would be prevented from germination. 

 Appendix I has been translated from Bulletin du Department de V 

 Agriculture aux Indes Nearlandaises on the similar disease in Java 

 and gives comparative results of different fungicidal agents, for in 

 Java it is thought that spraying will prove to be the most effective 

 method in preventing the spread of the fungus. 



(2) It has been noticed that this disease, at present, is doing 

 serious damage only when the conditions of the soil and cultiva- 

 tion are unfavourable to healthy plant growth, and therefore in 

 order to keep the coco-nut palms in vigorous growth such points as 

 drainage, manuring and cultivation should be carefully attended 

 to. In the interlands of the Mayaro district, which are low-lying 

 and often water-logged, the conditions could easily be improved 

 by a system of drainage. The soil there is of a clayey nature 

 and is somewhat impervious — not soil the most suitable to success- 

 ful coco-nut cultivation. Some of the land is below the sea-level 

 and, therefore, it is impossible to obtain an outflow for the surplus 

 water but much of the surface water and that in the top six or 

 nine inches of the soil might easily be removed by the digging of 

 a system of wide drains about 18 inches deep. Even draining 

 such a portion of the soil would prove beneficial to the coco-nut 

 trees, as they feed mainly by roots in the top layers of the soil and 

 therefore removal of an accumulated mass of 'sour ' water should 

 prove to be an incentive to further root formation. 



Moreover, here, as on the estate in Icacos district, where the 

 diseased areas appear to be on. the light dry soils, the question of 

 manuring and cultivation of the soil should be carefully attended 

 to. Manures must not be looked upon as a means of curing disease 

 but they may be the means of strengthening the growth of the 

 plant and the problem of manuring should be solved by the best 

 resources at the command of the estates. 



Section 2 (b). 



32. When diseased leaflets have become dry and when the wart- 

 like pustules or Pestalozzia have made their appearance: there can 

 frequently be noticed (besides the greyish-black pustules of 

 Pestalozzia) small, round spots that are quite black. These black 

 spots appear to follow the veins of the leaflet and are usually to 

 be seen in the greatest numbers on the upper surface of a leaflet 

 near the mid -rib. They are also frequently seen on the lower 

 surface of the leaflet and the flower spathes and, sometimes, the 

 petioles are covered with black spots, the individuals of which are 

 just visible to the unaided eye but as a whole often appear as a 

 blackish incrustation. 



On the leaflets where the black spots are seen, the greyish 

 colour noticeable in the case of the Pestalozzia is marked by a 

 dark brown colouration in the case of this second fungus. This 

 appears to be due to dark coloured mycelium in the dried-up 

 tissues of the leaflets. In no case has the presence of this second 

 fungus been observed on leaflets that had not been previously 

 attacked by Pestalozzia. It would, therefore, be concluded 



