249 



of coffee the fact that wild Liberian coffee is unattacked 

 by Hcmileia vastatrix had evidently been lost sight of. It 

 is only reasonable to expect that with the continued cultivation of 

 the plant the amount of the disease will increase. On the other 

 hand, it must be borne in mind that the epidemic in Ceylon will in all 

 probability never be repeated in another coffee-producing country. 

 The conditions of cultivation in Ceylon were especially favourable to 

 the spread of an epidemic, and the disease had probably been gather- 

 ing force for several years before it was noticed. Again, it is 

 doubtful as to whether Hemileia vastat) ix was responsible for all of 

 the damage to the industry, since the plant is known to be susceptible 

 to more than one root fungus in Ceylon. The disease occurs in 

 districts in this country where Liberian coffee is cultivated, but it 

 appears to produce little or no appreciable effect on the yield of fruit. 



The propagation of the disease by uredospores lends itself readily 

 to treatment by spraying with a fungicide. A preliminary experi- 

 ment was carried out on 15th October for the purpose of determining 

 whether the 4-4-50 formula of Bordeaux mixture would be injurious 

 to the younger leaves of the plant. This mixture was prepared by 

 the approved method from 4 lbs. quicklime, 4 lbs. copper sulphate 

 and 50 gallons water, and was sprayed on to 100 plants of robusta 

 coffee, a Vermorel's "Eclair" sprayer being used, and examination 

 at the end of four weeks showed that the application of the mixture 

 had in no way injured even the youngest leaves. 



The experiment was sufficient to demonstrate that this strength 

 of mixture, which is the strength recommended by the Board of 

 Agriculture of England, could be applied without injury to the plant. 

 Robusta coffee is cultivated in this country principally as a catch- 

 crop with rubber to be removed when the rubber comes into bearing, 

 and there is at present a tendency to do away with the cultivation of 

 catch-crops in rubber, so that a spraying method of this kind, which 

 to be successful must be carried out on a large scale, would scarcely 

 recommend itself to the planter. 



Fomes semitostiis has been found to attack robusta coffee both in 

 the field and by artificial infection. 



Hymenochaete noxia has been found to attack robusta coffee, 



DISEASES OF TAPIOCA. 



Forneii semitostus readily attacks tapioca. 



Cercospora Cearae, Fetch., has been found to cause spots on the 

 leaves, the spots being particularly abundant on a patch of tapioca in 

 in the Experimental Gardens at Batu Tiga. 



DISEASES OF CAMPHOR. 



Fomes semitostus and Hymenochaete noxia attack the roots of 

 camphor ( Cinnamomum Camphora). 



