discussion of the subject of cane diseases and their treatment, fol- 

 lowed by specific accounts of the more important diseases encountered, 

 their symptoms, causes, and methods of control. Eleven diseases 

 are so treated, root disease, rind disease, red rot, red spot of the leaf- 

 sheath, red rot of the leaf-sheath, dry rot of the stalk, leaf spot, top 

 rot, and chlorosis. 



Tn the report of the next year (46) progress is reported in the 

 field and laboratory studies of various fungi, and the results of pre- 

 liminary experiments for the control of the various diseases are given. 



The senior author presented before the December, 1912, meeting 

 of the American Phytopathological Society a paper entitled ''Notes- 

 on the Fungus Diseases of Cane in Porto Rico," an abstract of which 

 appeared in "Phytopathology" (47). This paper listed some twenty- 

 three species of cane fungi, not all of them completely determined^ 

 and gave some notes concerning their economic importance. 



The third report (50) of the pathologist contained a list of projects 

 then under way, including studies of root diseases, red-stripe disease, 

 and field experiments for control of some of the other cane maladies. 

 Two further publications (48, 51) issued at about this time deal 

 in general with cane diseases and their control. 



In the third report of the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture, 

 issued at the time when the Sugar Experiment Station had been but 

 lately turned over to their direction as the Insular Exi)erimt'ut Station, 

 occurs a statement of projects, some of which concern sugar-cane- 

 fungi and diseases. Additional notes on the subject have been in- 

 cluded in the fourth and fifth reports (74, 75) of the Board issued 

 since that date, further mention of which will be made in the specific 

 account.s to follow. 



DISEASES KOX OCCURRING IN PORTO KICO. 



AYhile Porto Rico has its full measure of cane diseases, it is, how- 

 ever, fortunate, to the extent that quite a number of diseases serious 

 in other parts of the world do not occur here. Foremost among 

 these may be mentioned Sereh, the mysterious malady of Java and 

 the East Indies. In some respects the mottling disease, or whatever 

 term mtiy be given the present epidemic, resembles Sereh without 

 the distinguishing symptoms of the latter being present. It has in 

 its progress to date, however, resulted quite as seriously as any Sereh 

 attack could. 



The gumming disease due to the action of a bacterium (Bacterium 

 vascularum Er. Sm.) and present in New South Wales, Hawaii, and 

 other parts of the world, is a serious cane disease not encountered 



182 



