54 



during the past six or seven years, and it would make rapid strides but 

 for the persistent watchfulness of the growers. No reliable cure has yet 

 been found, but inquiry and experiment are still going on." The 

 subject was discussed in Keiv Bulletin, 1890, pp. 272-273. 



. Sir John Thurston stated that the disease broke out in the first 

 instance on the small island of Yanuca, used as a quarantine station. It 

 is possible it was introduced in some way by immigrants. It spread 

 from Yanuca to the neighbouring island of Moturiki. Here Musa 

 Cavendishii (largely grown in Fiji for export), was first attacked, but in 

 the course of a few months the larger and stronger plantain was affected, 

 and ultimately not a single banana or plantain could be found from one 

 end of the island to the other. The disease then passed over to Viti 

 Levu and was carried by various agencies all over the country. No 

 place, however, suffered as Moturiki did. The Governor was able to 

 report in 1891 that after a period of rest the land even there was able to 

 grow plants almost free from disease. 



It was believed that the Fiji disease might be caused by a nematoid 

 worm, a minute parasite similar to that found in Queensland attacking 

 the roots. It was recommended, failing success with various insecti- 

 cides, to plough the land, leaving it fallow for a time and alternating 

 some other crop. The ground was subsequently to be replanted with 

 suckers from an unaffected locality. The view that the disease was 

 caused, in part at least, by nematoid worms was apparently confirmed 

 by investigations with fresh material undertaken by Dr. N. A. Cobb at 

 Sydney, New South Wales. The results are given in Kew Bulletin, 

 1892, pp. 48, 49. The remedies suggested by Dr. Cobb were : — 



" 1. Where the bananas are cultivated, a system of rotation should be 

 adopted ; no attempt should be made to grow banana plants on the same 

 ground continuously for a long series of years. . . 



" 2. Judging from the specimens sent, the soil about the banana 

 plants is infested to an extraordinary degree with nematodes, therefore 

 it is best, in cultivating, to plough deeply, or to occasionally subsoil the 

 land. These nematodes attack the roots of plants, and exist largely 

 within 8 inches of the surface. As they become rarer as the depth 

 of the soil increases, it follows that if the land be ploughed deep and 

 thoroughly so as to turn the soil exactly bottom side up, a soil com- 

 paratively free from nematodes will be brought to the surface, and, at the 

 same time, the nematodes which were near the surface are buried so . 

 deep that they can do much less damage than they could if left at the 

 surface. 



" 3. .. . . The main difficulty in dealing with these plants is thought 

 to be due to the attacks of the fungus, and here the best remedy is 

 great care in setting the new suckers, i.e., in making new plantations. 

 The presence of the fungus is indicated by discolouration in the. 

 rootstock. Now, when suckers are cut off from the old plant with a 

 spade, they should be inspected, and all brown and rotten portions should 

 be carefully removed, and all suckers from which these brown and 

 discoloured portions cannot be removed should be discarded." 



■ British Guiana. — A disease of plantains has long been known in this 

 Colony. Diseased stems exhibit internal decay, the substance of the leaf 

 sheafs " turning to a sodden, offensively-scented, putrid mass." The 

 fruits produced by the diseased plants " are black inside, but not soft like 

 the interior of the stems and rootstocks of the plants. They are of 

 course unfit for food." The nature of the disease, according to Mr. 



