94 



CACAO 



Fig. 28. — ^A " pustule " of Nectria 

 Bainii breaking through the skin of 

 a cacao pod ( x 40). 



spores can, of course, be reduced by regular applications, 

 but by the many the game is considered as " not worth 

 the candle." The best safeguards are : iirst, destruction 

 of all infected material absolutely ; secondly, regular 

 attention to the treatment of wounds, and last, the 

 adoption of systematic hygiene on the plantations, and 

 high-class cultivation. Sphaerostilbe, which is considered 



by Tubeuf to be sapro- 

 phytic only, also appears 

 on the cacao-tree, and as it 

 belongs to the Hypocreacece, 

 a division which includes the 

 Nectrias, it should be 

 watched with great care. 

 (J. B. Rorer in Report to 

 Board of Agriculture, Trini- 

 dad, September 1909.) 



No, 4. " Brown Rot " of 

 Pods, " Die - back " of 

 Branches, " Root Disease." Diplodia cacaoicola, P. Henn ; 

 Botryodiplodia Theohromce, Patouillard et de Lagerheim ; 

 Lasiodiplodia, sp., U.S. Department of Agriculture. — ^The 

 diseases under the above headings, " Brown Rot," " Die- 

 back " and " Root Disease," appear to be caused by the 

 organism first known to us as Diplodia cacaoicola, P. Henn, 

 but to which various names now appear (in the present 

 uncertainty of its full life history) to be attached. The 

 same organism appears to be found in pods, in the branches, 

 in the stems, and in the roots of trees affected by the 

 diseases known under the common names given at the 

 head of this note. 



The fungus causing " Die-back " was found by Howard 

 in Grenada, and subsequently was examined in St. Lucia 

 and Dominica. Forwarded to Kew, it was there deter- 

 mined as Diplodia cacaoicola, which was reported from 

 Ceylon as causing " Die-back " and " Canker." 



Howard describes its appearance in Brown Rot in the 

 following terms : 



