Diseases 247 



by doing so there is great danger of spread- 

 ing the disease. All dead trees should be 

 cut down, and the pieces collected carefully 

 together and burnt. All diseased leaves, on 

 otherwise healthy-looking trees, should be cut 

 out and burned, and any leaves showing signs 

 of disease should be completely destroyed by 

 fire, with as little transportation about the estate 

 as possible. Any trees found with diseased 

 leaves must, after these have been removed, 

 be carefully attended to at once. Manure should 

 be given to them, and the soil around them 

 properly tilled, in order to enable them to throw 

 off the attacks of the fungus. If the disease 

 continues to spread, spraying with fungicides 

 would render the spores of the fungus incapable 

 of germination and so tend to check the trouble. 

 Bordeaux mixture would probably be the 

 most economical fungicide, and should be 

 applied by means of a spraying machine with 

 a long hose attached. All trees showing 

 any signs of disease should be sprayed at 

 frequent intervals to prevent germination of 

 the spores. 



Evidence as to the fungus (Pestalozzia 

 palmarum) which causes the disease was 

 gathered from planters in the West Indies, 

 but, as in the case of root disease, the general 

 opinion was that it was due to the weakness of 

 the plants, produced by setting immature nuts, 

 or to improper soil conditions. It is impossible 

 to believe this, however ; otherwise, urges 



