32 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO BULLETIN. \XIX. 1.. 



being diseased in Trinidad are all included in his notes on observations 

 in Porto Kico and Louisiana made during his trip to those regions last- 

 year. Furthermore all Trinidad seedlings, including T. 247, T. 24, T. 87,. 

 T. 83 and T. 21 1 are badly affected in Louisiana. Whether this 

 indicates that these varieties were diseased when they reached Louisiana, 

 or are especially susceptible and became quickly infected after arrival 

 cannot be determined from the information available here." 



Shortly before the receipt of this confirmation of our suspicions as- 

 to the identity of the disease, the situation had become much more serious 

 in Trinidad by the. discovery that many of the cutiings already s-^nt 

 out from the Experiment Station were infected and were producing 

 diseased plants which would become centres of infection. A number 

 of estates were visited in different parts of the island, where cuttings 

 had been sent, and in nearly every case the disease was found to be 

 present to a greater or less extent. 



Li April, 1920 the disease was proclaimed under the Plant Protection 

 Ordinance {Trinidad Boyal Gazette, April 15, 1920. p. 285) which 

 giv3s th3 Inspectors tmder the Ordinance the right to enter estates for 

 the purpose of searching for the disease, and of taking steps to destroy 

 the infected plants if the owner of the canes does not do so after an 

 order has been served upon him. 



PEESENT SITUATION. 



At present there are about fifty known points of infection in the 

 island, which are being dealt with as rapidly as possible. Several have- 

 already been cleared as far as visible signs can be depended on. Nearly 

 all of these points of infection can be traced to cuttings sent out from 

 St. Augustine but there are a few the origin of which is uncertain. 

 The most important of them is at River Estate where a number of 

 infected stools have been found. Sugar cane experiments were carried 

 out at Eiver Estate by the Board of Agriculture before they were 

 transferred to St. Augustine and it is possible that the recurrence of the 

 disease at River Estate indicates that it was introduced into the island 

 shortly before the transfer of plants from River Estate to St. Augus- 

 tine, in 1914. 



In the St. Augustine district a number of small farmers' plots seem, 

 to have become infected by the natural spread of the disease. 



