15 



DISEASES AND ENEMIES. 



Fortunately the coconut is possessed of an unusual amount of vital- 

 ity as compared with most crops, and, generally speaking, the number of 

 serious pests attacking it is small. However, in the first years of its life 

 the young plant is exposed to many dangers, some of them causing very 

 severe losses in the Philippines. 



Among the fungus diseases it appears there are two or three well- 

 recognized pests, the principal one being the so-called ^'bud-rot." This 

 disease has at several periods spread over large areas of territory, deci- 

 mating, in many cases, the plantations in its track. The same disease 

 probably exists in other countries, especially in India, and it may be 

 identical with one of the coconut diseases of the West Indies. 



Since the disease appears to attack only the ''heart" of the crown the 

 symptoms are very readily noticed in the dying, or yellowing, of the 

 leaves and the dropping of the fruits. As soon as these symptoms can 

 be recognized as coming from this particular disease the planter should 

 lose no time in felling the tree and in destroying the bud and leaves 

 thereof. If it is impossible to burn a large heap of dead leaves or brush 

 over the diseased crown, the bud itself and a meter or more of the upper 

 portion of the trunk should be buried at least 40 centimeters below the 

 surface of the ground. 



There is no known empiric remedy for this disease, hence the only 

 means of combating it is to check its spread by destroying all affected 

 trees as soon as the attack is noticed and before the germs of the disease 

 can mature and be transmitted to the surrounding trees. 



The other fungus diseases attacking the coconut are of insufficient im- 

 portance to reqiiire discussion here. 



The insect enemies of this crop are of comparatively little account, 

 though the "uang," or black beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros), in certain dis- 

 tricts seriously mutilates the young leaves and thus reduces the vitality 

 of the tree. This beetle, which breeds in rubbish heaps and piles of 

 decaying vegetation (especially that from sugar-cane fields), more fre- 

 quently attacks coconuts in the lowlands and in the more or less isolated 

 areas. The means of combating these insects are practically limited to 

 hand-killing: a wire having a hook or barb at the end is thrust into 

 the burrow suspected of containing a beetle and twisted about until 

 the "uang" is withdrawn or until proof of its destruction is in evidence. 

 In some cases it may be advisable to apply a small amount of wood tar 

 or a mixture of resin, oil. and tar about the crown of trees in infested 

 plantations even if it is impracticable to introduce this substance into 

 the burrow; the mere odor of it would have considerable influence in 

 keeping the pest from further depredations in those trees for several 



