113 



"thread-blight" of tea, StUbum ?iauHf?t, M^s^qc, in Southern India 

 and Ceylon. A " leaf-blight " of coffee in Porto Rico in 1904 has been 

 attributed to an unidentified species of Sclerotiiim. A " thread-blight 

 of cacao was described from the West Indies in 1906. And recently 

 a disease of pomaceous fruits known as "hypochnose" has been re- 

 ported in North Carolina, U.S.A., and has been attributed to Hypochntis 

 ochrolcuciis, Noack. 



Indentification of the Fungus. 



Hitherto it has not been possible to identify the fungus on Hevea 

 and camphor owing to the absence of spore-bearing organs, although 

 a number of specimens have been carefully examined. 



Such an occurrence is not unusual in fuuiii of this nature; the 

 ** thread-blight " of tea and " hypochnose " of pomaceous fruits were 

 long known before any fruiting organs were found, while the fungi 

 causing the " thread-blight " on cacao and the " leaf-blight " of coftee 

 have yet not been identified. 



Ctamp-connexions can be frequently found in the m^'celium on 

 the leaves; they occur less frequently in the strands on the twigs. 

 From the presence of these organs the fungus is concluded to be 

 2i Basidiomycete. From what is known of mycelium of this nature, 

 one might expect the fungus to belong either to the genus Hypochnui 

 or to the genus Corticimn. 



Treatment. 



Tlie means by which the disease is spread necessitates the 

 sanitation of diseased areas. All fallen leaves and twigs under 

 affected trees should be scraped or gathered into heaps and burnt. 

 The heaps should be small in order to avoid scorching of the sur- 

 rounding trees. 



The diseased-trees may be cured by pruning the affected parts. 

 The damage done by the fungus is confined to the younger branches.. 

 Threads are seldom met with on the old parts of large branches, and 

 it is only necessary to remove those parts which actually bear the 

 fungus, so that, providing the disease is observed in its early stages, 

 the loss arising from pruning is not great. All prunings should be 

 carefully collected and burnt. 



In the case of the Hevea trees which were attacked by the fungus 

 the disease was not sufficiently abundant to warrant the application of 

 any preventive treatment to adjacent trees. The disease on camphor 

 was controlled by removing two badly affected plants, pruning the 

 remainder and cleansing the area of fallen leaves and twigs. 



In other parts of the world, outbreaks of the disease have been 

 controlled by the application of a lime-sulphur wash of which it will 



