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mixture and burying the decayed and diseased tissues with a quantity 

 of lime I think one would apply the second best remedy. Whatever 

 the method, it is of the utmost importance to destroy infected 

 material and so prevent any possible transmission of the disease by 

 insects. 



Root disease. — No root disease has been found in this country. 

 Stockdale regarded I'oot disease in Trinidad as the most serious 

 of the three diseases he described — root disease, leaf disease and 

 " bud-rot." Palms exhibiting a wilted appearance with their leaves 

 turning yellow should be examined by an expert. This appearance 

 is not uncommon but I have invariably found that the effect is due 

 either to poor soil or in the cases of some young palms to some 

 unexplained condition. 



Meliola palmar um. — A black fungus which causes the sooty 

 appearance is found frequently on leaves. 



It has never been found necessary to adopt any remedial 

 measures as the fungus does not permanently damage the palms. 



Insects Pests. 

 Oryctes rhinoceros. — This insect is the common " brown beetle " 

 of the Malay Peninsula or sometimes known as the black beetle. 



I need not give any description of the beetle or its mode of 

 attack. Preventive measures are most important and they must 

 take the form of collecting the larvae of the beetles and destroying 

 possible breeding places. Debris of coconuts should not be allowed 

 to lie about but should be collected and destroyed periodically. 

 Traps have been used on some estates but not with any great success 

 as usually the beetles have a vast number of potential breeding 

 places to choose from. On a clean estate, scrupulously cleared of 

 all coconut debris, traps of the kind used in Samoa, where the beetle 

 was first discovered in 1910 and were supposed to have i-eached 

 Upolu Island in a shipment of rubber stumps from Ceylon in 1909 

 or 1910, may give good results and are worth a thorough trial. 

 Copeland gives an account of Freiderich's traps in his book " The 

 Coconut " which is here quoted : " For the making of a trap a hole 

 is dug in the ground fi*om 9-12 feet square, and about 2| feet deep. 

 Rotten coconut stumps, plantain stems and soil are put into it and 

 over the top large leaves such as coconut leaves and plantain leaves 

 are placed rising perhaps a foot above the sui-f ace of the soil. Into 

 these pits the female beetles penetrate to lay eggs and the male 

 beetles to find the females. What beyond digging the traps is 

 necessary is that they should be opened at regular and not too 

 distant periods (six weeks to two months), or that the beetles (and 

 larvse) in them may be killed in some way." 



The leaf beetle, Xylotrupes yideon, needs no description. Means 

 of preventing attacks must take the form of collecting the beetles. 



