32 The Cultivation and Preparation of Coffee 



The marks or spots on the leaves are semi- 

 transparent, and in time the leaves get 

 perforated with holes 5 to 15 millimetres in 

 diameter. Badly affected trees are com- 

 pletely deprived of the leaves, and therefore 

 left in bad nutritious condition, both for the 

 vegetation and for the production of the fruit. 



A tree attacked by this disease will be 

 noticed to lack usual freshness ; the leaves often 

 get discoloured with a dropping tendency. 



The study of the disease made by Dr. Carlos 

 Spegazzini mentions that it is due to a parasite 

 fungus which does not develop, being in the 

 nature of the plant, owing to meteorological and 

 physiological causes. 



The fungi found on the marks or spots are 

 of various classes, those observed by Dr. 

 Spegazzini being the following : 



Pistillaria Flavida (Cooke). 

 Laestadia (?) Coffeicola (Spegazzini), or 

 Spharella Coffeicola (Cooke). 

 Phyllostcita (?) Coffeicola (Spegazzini). 



The predisposition is due to cultivation with 

 excessive shade in rainy districts, with deposits 

 of organic materials, and at an altitude of 3,000 

 feet above sea level, where mists are constantly 

 prevailing. 



