262 THE RUBBER TREE BOOK 



even (although this is improbable) not beyond the bounds of 

 possibility that the white ants spread the spores of the fungus 

 willingly in the hope of profit later on. Far more intelligent 

 and extraordinary artifices than this are credited to other 

 branches of the insect world. Some of them are so extraordinary 

 in the cold-blooded calculation of their Machiavellian designs 

 that they might appear incredible if not well vouched for. 



Working in apparent collaboration, or at least almost 

 simultaneously, the attacks of Fomes and white ants can 

 sometimes be exceedingly severe on special areas on planta- 

 tions and keep managers and assistants on the qui vive for years. 



The percentage of attacked trees has reached as high as 

 40 to 50 per cent, on not inconsiderable areas with a heavy 

 resultant mortality, and the financial loss to the company con- 

 cerned was grievous. 



Why some special fields should be singled out for severe 

 assault, and others, with apparently exactly similar conditions 

 as to amount of decaying timber and otherwise, escape, has often 

 been a matter of speculation. The probable cause is that the 

 soil of the affected area is in a more acid condition or in some 

 such way more favourable to the multiplication of fungi. 



To some extent this is borne out by the fact that an improve- 

 ment in drainage has been immediately followed by a marked 

 decrease in the number of cases of Fomes. This is one of the 

 continual instances which keep occurring to testify to the 

 necessity of getting the soil into a good state. When soil is 

 badly drained and uncultivated, and, therefore, unaerated, it is 

 the happy hunting-ground of the maleficent forms of bacteria 

 and of fungi. 



Every manager, especially on newly-planted jungle-lands, 

 should employ a number of his most intelligent coolies as 

 assistant inspectors to report on all cases of suspected disease. 

 Their whole time and attention should be given to this work, 

 and nothing should be permitted to interfere with it. The signs 

 of disease are usually a listless look about the foliage and hang- 

 ing down of the leaves, and, when the roots of the tree are at all 

 seriously affected, it will be found to be loose in the soil. If 

 badly attacked it can readily be pushed over, or will fall of its 

 own accord. In the latter event the roots should at once be 

 dug out, the soil treated with lime and exposed to the sunlight. 



