oa Wee oe a C= Agee dae 
Spe wp aoe 
Ee he let al wind lida ieee 
SB eRe cog a er 
219 
Major R. Gordon, of Lochinvar Monze, North Rhodesia, found 
the similar and nearly alhed grass Schmidtia bulbosa, tapf, a 
most valuable fodder for his horses when during the South-West 
African campaign of 1915 they had to subsist on it almost 
exclusively during long forced marches. As Schmidtia is a 
perennial grass and grows under similar conditions to this 
Enneapogon, it might be worth while to try to establish it in 
Ascension Island. 
A similar photograph to*that reproduced and a specimen of 
the grass has also been received from Ascension through a private 
correspondent, who writes: ‘‘ Rain is a very rare occurrence, but 
some months ago they had most bountiful showers, and immedi- 
ately the island blossomed into green verdure.’’ In a further 
letter the writer, who knows the island well, states that he 
believes the recent rain is the first within living memory, and 
that he has never seen a blade of grass on the island except on 
the mountain tops, where there is almost a perpetual mist. 
XXII.—BARK CANKER IN HEVEA BRASILIENSIS. 
A. SHARPLES, 
Mycologist, Department of Agriculture, Federated Malay States. 
- Phytopathological problems in connection with Hevea 
brasiliensis present many curious features. Bark canker caused 
by Phytoph thora Faberi has been considered the most serious 
disease in Java by Rutgers (7) since 1912, and Petch (4) in 
Ceylon obtained successful inoculation experiments on rubber 
with P. Faberi taken from diseased Cacao pods in 1910. Bark 
affections, as described from Java and Ceylon, were not, however, 
reported in Malaya before 1916, and it was not until late in 
1916 that serious outbreaks were noted. During 1916 Dastur (3) 
carried out extensive observations on P. Faberi in Burma, and 
the conclusions drayn from his laboratory experiments are 
interesting when taken in conjunction with Malayan observations. 
P. Faberi on Cacao and Cross Inoculations on Rubber. 
Rorer (6) settled the question of the cause of Cacao canker by 
careful inoculation experiments, proving that P. Faberi, aub., 
was undoubtedly responsible. Petch (loc. cit.) in 1910 
following on Rorer’s work, inoculated ten Hevea stems with 
Phytophthora spores obtained from diseased Cacao fruits and 
three more by inserting pieces of diseased Cacao pods in wounds. 
Six of these thirteen inoculations gave definite infections, and he 
Concluded that canker and pod disease of Hevea are caused by 
he same Phytophthora which is responsible for the stem canker 
and pod rot of Cacao—viz., hytophthora Faber aub. 
These observations tended to disprove Carruthers’ (2) con- 
clusion that Hevea canker was caused by a species of Nectria. 
he matter was left in an unsatisfactory state, for the inocula- 
Hons carried out by Petch were too few in number, and objections 
Could be raised against the method adopted. Rutgers (loc. cit.), 
a2 
