a red stripe of the inid-rib. This latter phase is discussed in detail 

 under leaf diseases. 



Occurrence in other countries. — Colletotrichum falcatum was first 

 reported and described from Java in 18f>8 by Went (93, 94), and 

 lias been treated in great detail by M^akker, Went, and other work- 

 ers (53, 97, 98), in that country, where it is considered one of the 

 most serious of cane diseases. Its parasitism was proven by inocu- 

 lations and life history studies were carried out. 



The disease has been of equal, if not greater importance in British 

 India and in fact a perusal of the literature leads to tlie conclusion 

 that it is far and away the most serious cane disease of that part of 

 the world. Butler (10, 11) has carried out extensive and conclusive 

 studies with this disease, although the first report was by Barber (8), 

 who noted that the disease was apparently parasitic in one district 

 and saprophytic in another. Butler 's investigations led him to believe 

 that the fungus was readily transmissil^le from cutting to shoot, and 

 that this was the chief method of infection of growing cane. 



Lewton-Brain (59) gave a complete account of the disease report- 

 ing, however, that in Hawaii it was of little importance. 



In. the southern United States. Edgerton (23, 24, 25) has inves- 

 tigated red rot in Louisiana and reports finding a loss in stand due 

 to the killing of young plants and decrease in per cent of sucrose 

 through inversion by the action of the fungus. Fawcett (27, 28) 

 reported the fungus from Florida and the senior author has observed 

 it in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. 



Considerable work has been carried out with this fungus in the 

 West Indies. Howard (43, 44) in particular conducted studies with 

 it, maintaining that it and not Melanconium was the cause of rind 

 disease. He describes the disease as follows : ' ' The disease appears 

 about four or five months before the canes are cut, generally at the 

 beginning of the ripening period. * * * The first outward sym- 

 tom of the malady is the drying up of the leaves which commences 

 at the margins of the older ones, and gradually spreads to the center 

 of the tuft in from four to six weeks. When this drying of the leaves 

 is well marked, the stem of the cane shows a brown discoloration in 

 one or more places, after which the rind shrivels up, and the discolor- 

 ation rapidly extends in all directions. On splitting such canes, the 

 tissues are seen to be of a reddish color, in which darker red areas 

 can be seen. Very frecpiently these darker regions contain deHnite 

 white centers, elliptical in vertical section." 



South and Dunlop (72) present a review of the literature and the 

 results of inoculation experiments carried out by them in Barbados 



191 



