254 



COCOA 



CHAP. 



The most conspicuous symptoms are the remarkable 

 hypertrophied twigs, called by the Dutch " krulloten " 

 (" curly shoots "), and in English " witch-broom " both 

 names inappropriate, but at present popular. These 

 deformed twigs, however, are not the cause of the loss. 

 Their weakening effect on the tree is not so important 



FIG. 83. A hypertrophied twig attacked by the Surinam witch-broom disease. 

 (After Van Hall and Drost.) 



as the damage done by the fungus to the fruits. The 

 " hardening" or "induration" of the attacked pods 

 causes a total or partial loss of the seeds, and the 

 number of fruits attacked has often been so great that 

 the yield of the plantation has been reduced to one- 

 tenth of the normal, or even less. 



The " witch-brooms " (Fig. 83) are conspicuous by 



