167 



courses of action, or some of them, might be tried with advantage by 

 sugar planters who are troubled with the fungus disease. 



14. To prevent the dissemination of the disease by the spores from 

 the rind-fungus, all the canes and the trash affected should be burnt. 

 The canes infested by the borer only may be ground, and the megass 

 burnt. 



15. Canes from other estates where no disease exists, should be used 

 for planting. 



16. Only healthy tops of strong canes should be used as seed-canes. 



17. To avoid any chance of the fungus existing unnoticed in the 

 tops, they might be steeped in a solution of sulphate of iron (one ounce 

 powdered in three gallons of water) for a few hours, especially if they are 

 pierced by the borers. 



18. The infection of the ground by resting spores is a very difficult 

 matter to deal with, for it is impossible to say how long these may 

 last, and there may be no use in allowing the ground to lie fallow for a 

 few months. Whilst studying this subject at Kew, Mr. Bovell, the 

 Superintendent of the Botanic Station at Barbados, gave the interesting 

 information that he had grown sorghum on infected ground, and so 

 rid it of the disease. As a matter of fact the sorghum appears to have 

 acted as a trap for the resting spores, they germinated and attacked the 

 young sorghum, which was then pulled up by the roots and given as 

 food to cattle. If this process were repeated two or three times, it is 

 possible that all the resting spores would have germinated. If careful 

 watch is kept, and the sorghum pulled up before the fungus had run its 

 course, there would be no spores produced to renew the disease. It was 

 ascertained at Kew that there was some danger in using corn (maize) 

 as a trap, for the- disease ran its course very quickly, and might pro- 

 duce spores before it is noticed. 



19. If exhaustion of the soil is the cause of the weak constitution 

 of a cane, then deep ploughing may be very useful, allowing the roots 

 of the cane to penetrate to a greater depth than before, and making 

 use of fertile soil hitherto untouched. If the soil is very deep, and 

 there is no fear of bringing up unfertile subsoil, then a subsoil plough 

 may be used, bringing up to the surface virgin soil. This practice 

 would also have the effect of burying any nematode worms which may 

 possibly be injuring the rootlets, for they cannot live below a depth of 

 8 inches from the surface. 



20. Manure may be used to strengthen the canes, and so enable 

 them to resist the disease. It is stated that more sunshine and less 

 rain since my visit has had a good effect in checking the disease, but as 

 the weather cannot be altered to encourage the crops, the desired 

 strength may be given by a judicious application of manure. It 

 should be ascertained by chemical analysis what percentage of lime 

 there is in the soil, and if this is below 1 per cent, lime should be ap- 

 plied. This will check fungus diseases. Sulphate of iron is a good 

 manure. It should be applied as a top-dressing during showery wea- 

 ther, at the rate of \ cwt. to the acre. It will destroy fungi. Deep 

 ploughing is the most important point to be observed in the cultiva- 

 tion. 



W. Fawcett, 

 Director of Public Grardens and Plantations 



