PINE APPLE 133 



cillium sp., Aspergillus sp., Fusarium sp., Eurotium 

 sp., and a yeast-like organism. The most important 

 of these is said to be Thielaviopsis ethacetica 1 

 (page 44), which is said to attack both ripe and un- 

 ripe fruit in the field and in storage, causing a soft rot, 

 and also causing a base rot of the crown and a leaf 

 spot through wound infections in the field. 



Great care should be used in the cutting and 

 packing, and the cut surfaces should be covered with 

 wax. Recent experiments in the United States 

 Department of Agriculture have demonstrated if the 

 fruits are subjected to fumes of formaldehyde gas (1200 

 cc. of formalin to 1000 cubic feet of space) for one 

 half hour, the ravages of the fungus can be controlled 

 without injuring the fruit. 



PAPAW 



1 Leaf Spot. - - The tropical papaw (Carica papaya) 

 is attacked in the West Indies by a leaf-spot fungus, 

 Pucciniopsis caricae, Earle. It occurs as small black 

 masses on the under sides of the leaves, and causes 

 them to become yellow and fall. It is not destructive, 

 but is sometimes quite severe on seedlings. 



BANANA 



Bud Rots. The most serious diseases of the bananas 

 are the bud rots, which are more or less prevalent in 

 various parts of the world. They are not well under- 

 stood, and it is by no means certain that they are the 

 same. Dr. Delacroix describes such a disease on the 

 Chinese banana (Musca Cavendishi) near Alexandria, 

 in Egypt. Other bananas are also attacked, but do not 

 suffer so severely. The disease usually appears on the 

 young plants first, and always on the young leaves and 

 core. The diseased parts become brown, the tissues 

 disorganize and become putrid, and finally die. The 



1 Syn. Thielaviopsis paradoxa, Sporoschisma paradoxum, Chalara paradoxa. 



