THE BUD-ROT OF PALM8 IN INDIA. 271 



111 October 1908 Mr. Green introduced a new system tor carrying 

 on the operations. The experience in Amalapur had shown, espe- 

 cially in the jjeriod from January to July 1908, that it was not possible 

 with the staff available to ensure that new cases were cut out suffi- 

 ciently rapidly to prevent them becoming dangerous to surrounding 

 healthy trees. So long as it was believed that the disease progressed 

 rapidly and continuously within the palm crown from the time 

 of infection to the death of the tree, the previous arrangements ap- 

 peared to afford sufficient safeguards against the danger of leaving 

 any considerable number of diseased trees uncut long enough to en- 

 able them to infect others. The simultaneous occurrence of a large 

 number of deaths early in 1908, together with other observations 

 referred to on a preceding page, led to a strong probability about 

 this time, which afterwards became practically a certainty, that 

 the disease frequently does not progress continuously, but becomes 

 arrested after penetrating some way into the bud. It is probable 

 that arrest occurs in a considerable number of trees over a large 

 area at about the same time, from some common cause such as tem- 

 perature or dryness of the air. In the same way when conditions 

 of growth again become favourable, general recrudescence may occur, 

 and a large number of deaths, too large to be rapidly dealt with by 

 a few travelling parties, appear simultaneously. 



It became necessary, therefore, to endeavour to devise a system 

 under which simultaneous operations over a large area would be 

 possible. This Mr. Green did by transferring the onus of removing 

 dead trees in each village from the special staff to the village ofhcers. 

 This relieved the whole of the staff of 8 Revenue Inspectors from 

 all work, except that of inspecting each village, checking the trees 

 reported cut by the village officers and making the necessary pay- 

 ments for hire of palm climbers and coolies. 



Under this system, whicli is still in force, the \Jllage officers 

 of every village reporting the disease are reciiiiied to submit montlily 

 progress reports showing the number of trees cut in each village 

 during the month. They also maintain registers showing the survey 



