VI 



RUBBER 197 



Ficus nitida is a fine evergreen and ornamental tree 

 of the tropics which is frequently referred to as the 

 laurel. These trees have suffered greatly in the 

 Barbadoes and Cuba, from some unknown cause. The 

 fruiting bodies of the fungus Eutypa erumpens, Massee, 

 occur under and push off the bark of the dead and dying 

 trees, but the observers are by no means sure that it is 

 the cause of the trouble. This same fungus has been 

 reported on the nutmegs and cacao in Trinidad and on 

 other plants in various parts of the West Indies. 



Hymenochaete noxia, 1 Henn., has been reported 

 on rubber from Malay and Ceylon, and on cacao in 

 Ceylon and Apia. It causes an encrustation on the 

 roots, especially the tap root, and on the base of the 

 stem. The fructifications always occur on the stems or 

 dead stumps and may persist for a long time. The 

 fungus spreads primarily from the roots of one plant to 

 the roots of a neighbouring plant. Dead trees and 

 stumps should be burned. 



Poria vincta, B. & Br., is another fungus which 

 attacks the roots of the rubber in Ceylon, but does not 

 do much damage. A species of Helicobasidium, which 

 is probably H. mompa, occurs in Selangor, and is said 

 to be a serious pest ; and Sphaerostilbe repens has been 

 reported as the cause of a root disease in Ceylon. 



In contending with the fungi which cause the root 

 disease of rubber and other plants, we must adhere to 

 clean cultivation, i.e. the removal of dead logs and 

 stumps, and the selection so far as possible of vigorous 

 varieties. It has also been recommended that the Para 

 rubber should not be set on worn-out coffee lands, and 

 that the plantings should be separated into small lots 

 by barriers of Ficus elastica. 



COCO-NUT AND OTHER PALMS 



Bud Rot. This is the most serious coco-nut disease 

 of the West Indies, from which it was first reported. 



1 It also attacks tea, dadap, Castilloa, Caravonica, cotton, camphor, and 

 many other plants. 



