DISEASES OF PLANTS. 455 



Attention is called to the fact that frost injuries have occurred from Michigan 

 to New Yorlv and New England in the peach yellows area, that frost injury has 

 been severe in western New York, Ohio, and Michigan without any accompany- 

 ing peach yellows, and that yellows is reported without frost injury in New 

 Jersey. Delaware, Maryland, southern Pennsylvania to Tennessee, and North 

 Carolina. 



The Central American banana blight, R. E. B. McKenney (Abs. in Science, 

 n. ser., SI {1910), A'o. 802, pp. 150, 151). — Beginning in 1904 the author made a 

 study of the disease or blight of bananas, which seems to be spreading with 

 considerable rapidity throughout Central America. Young and old plantations 

 are attacked, but the disease seldom becomes evident until the shoots have 

 reached a height of from 4 to 6 ft. The first external sign is a rapid yellowing 

 and subsequent browning and wilting of the leaves. Eventually all the leaves 

 die and fall back against the trunk, leaving a crop of suckers which in turn are 

 killed and give place to still weaker shoots. The fruit of the diseased shoots 

 rarely matures and when mature is worthless. 



On cutting the pseudo-stem across, the bundles are found to be of a yellow, 

 reddish, or reddish-purple color, the color deepening toward the rootstock. 

 In the last stages of the disease the bundles are almost black. The juice 

 of the diseased plants contains much less tannin than that of normal ones, 

 and a nauseating odor is associated with the presence of the trouble. There 

 appears to be a .seasonal periodicity in the activity of the blight corresponding 

 to the periodicity of growth in the banana plants. 



The exact cause of the trouble has not been determined, but it is believed to 

 be probably a vegetable parasite which makes its entrance into the plant 

 through the rhizome or roots. 



No method of control has been found, but the progress of the disease may be 

 delayed by digging out and burning the diseased plants as soon as observed. 

 It was found that the Chinese banana, now occasionally grown in Central 

 America, is practically immune to this trouble. 



A Cuban banana disease, E. F. Smith {Abs. in Science, n. sen, 31 (1910), 

 No. 802. pp. 15.'i, 155). — The author describes a disease of bananas which was 

 first called to his attention as occurring in Cuba. This disease is identical 

 with or similar to the disease occurring in Central America, described by 

 McKenney (see above), and also in northern South America. The author 

 believes that possibl.v the diseases may be identical or that one may be due to 

 bacteria and the other to fungi. The Cuban disease is attributed to a species 

 of Fusarium. to which the name F. ruhoise n. sp. is given. 



Cacao canker, J. B. Carruthers (Bui. Dept. Agr. Trinidad, 9 (1910), No. 6J/, 

 pp. 30, 31). — A note is given on the cacao canker, which was investigated in 

 Ceylon by the author, and a summary is presented of recent investigations by 

 Mrs. A. E. Van Hall, which have already been noted (E. S. R., 22, p. 547). 



Witches' broom disease of cacao in Surinam, J. B. Rorer (BuL Dept. Agr. 

 Trinidad, !) (1910). Xo. 6'-'/, pp. 32, 31). — A condensed account of the investi- 

 gations of Van Hall and Drost that have been noted elsewhere (E. S. R.. 22. 

 p. 547). 



Preliminary report on cacao spraying experiments, ,T. B. Rorer (Bui. Dept. 

 .Agr. Trinidad, 9 (1910), No. 6'/, ijp. 10-l.'f).~-\ preliminary experiment having 

 shown the possibility of controlling the cacao disease, an experiment was un- 

 dertaken on a larger scale in which trees were sprayed with a 5 : 5 : 50 Bordeaux 

 mixture. The sprayed trees bore a considerably increased number of pods 

 over the unsprayed ones, and only 7.3 per cent of the pods from the sprayed 

 plat were black or diseased as compared with 26.3 per cent from the control 

 plat. 



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