37 



insufficient means to provide against the attacks of fungus and insect 

 enemies, to which it succumbs readily if no care is exercised in it& 

 protection. 



It is, therefore, the best policy to take advantage of every well-tried 

 and successful means of dealing with these pests. 



Among the various precautions suggested by the nature of the 

 present disease is the destruction on the plantation of all scabby 

 bananas, and the refuse from the same, as well as the destruction of 

 all other parts of the plants harbouring the fungus. Care in this 

 respect will be well repaid. 



In the formation of new plantations care should be taken to secure 

 sets free from the disease. While this precaution cannot be relied upon 

 to keep the new plantation free from disease indefinitely, it will do 

 something towards that end, inasmuch as the disease will be compelled 

 to make its way to the new plantation by the aid of its spores borne 

 on the wind or other carrying agency. The arrival of the pest by these 

 means will not be such as to attract immediate attention, since it will 

 be by degrees. A watch should therefore be kept, and measures 

 adopted accordingly. 



Where there are a number of plantations very near together it is to 

 the advantage of each to have the neighbouring plantations as clear of 

 disease as possible. The seeds of disease are for the most part easily 

 carried between neighbouring plantations by wind and other agencies. 

 It will be an impossibility to keep a plantation absolutely free from 

 disease if there are diseased plantations adjacent. This fact should 

 lead to more co-operative effort among neighbouring fruit-growers than 

 usually exists. 



Scab on Fiji Bananas. 



The external appearance of this scab is the same as of that from 

 Queensland, but on examination with a magnifying glass it was not 

 always possible to find the pustules seen on the Queensland bananas. 

 In one instance the examination of the fresh material did not show 

 any spores among the debris from the cracks in the scab. 



It appeared sometimes as if the scab started as depressions in the 

 skin, as if from an insect puncture. Then, again, small scabs would be 

 found that had no appearance of ever having been a depression. In 

 this instance also the scab occurred on all sides of the fruit, a fact 

 that precluded the idea that it originated from chafing. 



Of samples sent in by Mr. Inspector Martin, part were of the 

 ordinary form of gray scab, showing, after twenty-four hours' water 

 culture, both mycelium and the elongated spores, of which measure- 

 ments are given below. In contrast with the scabby bananas from 

 Cairns, these did not yield an abundance of yeast cells in the water 

 cultures. In the dry scab it was not easy to find the elongated spores, 

 but occasionally they could be seen. 



