351 



the whole fruit assumed a dark brown unhealthy appearance and 

 quickly rotted and fell to the ground. Several remedies were tried 

 but were not satisfactory ; probably the best was the protecting of 

 the young fruits by small bags. As soon as the attack was noted 

 the diseased fruits were collected and burnt. 



Phytophthura Blight. The Potato Disease. 



The leaves of the potatos began to die off but did not show the 

 characteristic brown spots of this fungus. The tubers, however, on 

 examination were found to contain the mycelium of Phytophthora 

 infestans. In all probably this fungus had been brought from India 

 in the seed tubers. 



Kuala Lumpur, L. Lewton-Brain, 



nth October, 191 1. Director of Agriculture, 



F.M.S. 



ABNORMAL RUBBER TREE. 



A planter sends from Johore, a very curious specimen of an 

 abnormal growth of a Para-Rubber tree. The trunk, of which the 

 lower postion is sent, is II to 12 inches through at the lower end 

 and the tree appears to be five years old. It has been tapped, and 

 from the tappings run down swellings, thickening downwards between 

 each tapping mark. At each cut the swelling ends in a thickened 

 rounded lump, commencing again below the next tapping. The 

 back covering these swellings contains no latex, a cross section of 

 the tree shows bark covered by a peculiar woody out growth as 

 much as 2 inches thick in the centre and thinning out to the edges 

 forming a semi-circle or semi-cylinder of corky looking wood. 



This mass of out growth is apparently composed of roots which 

 have grown in great abundance from the cuts and pushed their way 

 through the bark and over the cambium layer, and in part ap- 

 parently o\er the bark. The covered up bark contains latex, but the 

 bark over the root out growth does not. We are accustomed to out 

 growths of dormant buds on cuts made in the bark of a Para rubber 

 tree especially where the wood has been exposed are cut into, but I 

 have never met with an example of the effusion of roots from 

 tapping in such a way as this. 



Trees which root easily from the branches like Ficus often emit 

 from the upper edge of a wound a number of roots which may push 

 under the bark below, but in this case they generally push off the 

 bark altogether, and leave a mass of ordinary and normal roots. 



In the old tapping marks (half-herring-bone), there seem to be a 

 mass of abnormal roots developed, and some of these have run down 

 beneath the wood not cut by the tapping. These roots still contain 

 latex even where covered with an inch of wood. No sign of any 

 fungus appears on cutting into the wood even from the point at 



