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REPORT ON COFFEE LEAF FUNGI. 



28th January, 1893. 



To the Honourable Colonial Secretari/. 

 Sir, 



I have the honour to inform you that I visited Manchester to enquire into statements that were 

 made that coffee shrubs in some places were dying in consequence of being attached by a leaf disease. 

 On enquiry, the Hon. J. P. Clark, and Messrs. Braham and Fitzherbert informed me that th& 

 Coffee shrubs on their estates were not suffering from disease. 



I rode through the Brokenhurst Coffee fields belonging to Mr. Wynne and found that the leaves 

 on most of the shrubs were spotted through the growth of a stalked yellowish fungus quite evident 

 to the naked eye ; and agreeing with the description given of Stilhum flavidiun by Dr. M. C. Cooke, a 

 well known writer on Fungi. This fungus was plentiful not only at Brokenhurst but elsewhere oa 

 settlers' Coffee, and is probably abundant in Manchester. It occurs very rarely in the Blue Moun- 

 tain districts, and there apparently, only at low elevations in damp, shady places. 



I attribute the extent to which this fungus is spread in Manchester to the partial shade which is 

 found favourable to the growth of Coffee in that district. In the Blue Mountains where the shrubs 

 are exposed to the full sunshine the fungus has not the same opportunity of development. 



This fungus StilhuDi Jiaviduni does not appear to me to do any great damage to the Coffee, and it 

 would scarcely be worth while to apply any remedy. 



Another fungal disease which had attacked leaves sent to me from Manchester has the appear- 

 ance of a fine spider's web on the underside of the leaf, and continued down the stalk to the twig. 

 When the under surface of the leaf is nearly covered, the leaf drops, but continues to hang for some 

 time by the fungus thread. 



I found this disease in one place only, and was informed that it had been known there for 12 or IS- 

 years, and that during that time it had spread through about half an acre of Coffee on a plantation of five 

 or six acres. From enquiries made, it appeared that the Coffee had been planted somo years ago in ruinate 

 land. Whether care had ever been bestowed on this Coffee field seemed very doubtful, but at the time of 

 my visit, the shrubs showed utter neglect. They had been allowed to grow with five or six trunks from 

 a single root to a height of ten or twelve feet. Wherever in the cavities of the limestone rock a berry 

 had fallen and taken root, it was allowed to grow, so that as a rule the shrubs were only three or four 

 feet apart. Orange and other trees were intermingled with the Coffee and all were more or less 

 covered with growths of all kinds ; fungi, lichens, mosses, wild vines, wild pines, parasitic loranthaceae,. 

 etc. The ground was cumbered with weeds ; and it was surprising that Coffee could grow at all under 

 such unfavourable conditions. 



The fungus has been identified at Kew by Dr. M. C. Cooke as Pelliciilaria Koleroga first described 

 by him from Mysore. It has also been noticed in Venezuela. 



I attribute no importance whatever to this fungus, and think it a pity that alarm should have 

 been caused by the notices published in the newspapers. 



I may add that Mr. Wynne complains of damage baing done to both Coffee and Orange Trees, by 

 slugs eating away the young bark. The slugs have been kept down only by constant hand picking 

 facilitated by intermingling with the Coffee banana plants of which the slugs are very fond. As the 

 Orange Trees are chiefly of spontaneous growth, and young trees are liable to be utterly killed off by the 

 slug, it is possible that after a few years the amount of fruit available will be very seriously diminished. 

 Coffee Planters in Manchester have reason to be alarmed at the increase of the ravages of this pest. 

 A writer in Biedermann's Centralblatt, 1881, states that the potash manure known as " Kainit" has 

 the power of destroying caterpillars, and is harmful to snails. It might be well to try the experiment 

 of applying some to the ground round a few Coffee shrubs. 



I have &c, 



W. Faavcett, 

 Director of Public Gardens and Plantations. 



REPORT ON INFESTED SUGAR CANES. 



I have examined the sugar-canes and specimens of pests from the Cave Valley Estate, forwarded 

 in accordance with the directions of the Director of Public Grardens and Plantations. The following 

 insects, fungus and worm were found on or at the roots of the canes ; — 



(1.) Diatrcea saccharalis, Fabr. 



Several lepidopterous larvae were found inside a oane noi; far from the root. The cane had become 

 brown and rotten. These larvae are small, yellowish-white, spotless, with red-brown heads. 

 So far as I can see, they are the immature larvae of Diatrma saccharalis. 

 (2.) Lachnosterna ? or Ligijrus ? 



Among the specimens sent in a bottle are a few Scarabseid larvae, and I found one alive at the 

 roots of the cane. Until the adult beetle is reared, it will be impossible to identify the species. 

 ^ (3.) Curculionid larva. 



In a rotten cane-root, apparently of last year's growth, I found a single larva of some weevil. 

 It is about 5 millim. long, plump, purplish with a pale line along the side. The head is 

 yellowish-white, the mouth-parts dark. 

 (4.) Telephorid larvae and adults. 



In the bottle are a larva and adult female of some species of ** glow-woi»m." 

 (5.) Stylopijga antillarim, Brunner. 



