90 THE BANANA 



Disease " another disease has long been known, though 

 never widespread, in the banana fields of Surinam and 

 Colombia ; but it does not cause much apprehension among 

 the planters. 



The disease* shows as a swelling, sometimes enormous, 

 of the base of the trunk, hence called " bigie footoe " or 

 " elephantiasis." The oldest leaves then begin to wither, 

 owing to rupture of the tissue close to the trunk ; these 

 leaves hang on during the winter, and do not look any 

 different from the ordinary dead leaves ; but careful 

 examination shows a number of little galls (Mycocecidia) 

 on the sheaths and leaf -stalks, some of them projecting 

 through the epidermis. The end of the shoot may go on 

 growing for some time after the outer leaves are dead, but 

 the young leaves are always poorly developed and chlorotic. 

 At this stage the upper part of the rhizome (bulb) can be 

 broken off clean by a slight pull. 



Sections in the rhizome show that the fungus attacks 

 first the outer and upper part of the parenchyma. The 

 sloughing of the lower leaves is probably due to tension 

 caused by the enormous quantities of hyphae making their 

 way through the tissues to the outside of the leaf-sheaths ; 

 and probably also to a slow disintegration caused by 

 enzymes secreted by the fungus. As the fungus extends 

 horizontally just below the bases of the outermost leaves, 

 it is probable that this is the region of infection ; if it is 

 only when the tissues at this point are young and thin 

 that infection can take place, the slow spread of the disease 

 receives a ready explanation. 



Essed obtained from the diseased plants pure cultures 

 of a fungus, and has named it Ustilaginoidella cedipigera. 



The spread of the disease can be checked by spraying 

 with Bordeaux Mixture. 



The latest information on the subject of the principal 



disease in Surinam is given by Drost in Bulletin No. 26 



of the Department of Agriculture, Surinam. f The author 



states that this disease is different from that prevalent in 



* Essed in Ann. Bot., xxv. | Agric. News, xi. 142 (1912). 



