7 



From Prof. E. J. Webber to Prof. D. T. MacDougal. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology. 



Dear Doctor MacDougal : 



Mr. Galloway has handed rae your letter of April 7, and the accam- 

 panying specimens of diseased lemon twigs from Jamaica. This "lemon 

 tumour," as it is called in Florida, is not a very common disease. I 

 think I have seen it twice in different parts of Florida. It never caused 

 sufficient damage, however, to justify an investig ition, so that we are 

 not certain as to its cause. By cutting the tissue one finds that the 

 cells and intercellular spaces are filled with a colourless mycelium 

 which seems to become blackened at the surface similar to Cladospo- 

 rium or Macrosporium. I do not recall, however, to have ever found 

 any fertile specimens, and the specimens which you enclose seem to be 

 sterile. The disease cannot be said to cause any noticeable damage 

 and the result is that we have paid no attention to it. 



H. J. Webber, 

 In charge of Plant-Breeding Laboratory. 



DATE PALMS.* 



The number of date palms in the Yilayet of Tripoli, N"orth Africa, 

 is computed at 2,000 000, and is the most important of all trees, all its 

 component parts serving usefully in some way or another ; the fruit 

 for food, the leaves f>r mats and hut coverings, the wool for 

 building an I uel, the fibre for baskets and ropes, the juice for drink- 

 ing, and finally the stones made into a paste are given as food to ani- 

 mals. A certain quantity of date- stones is exported to Italy to adul- 

 terate coffee. 



Date paste also forms an article of export to Egypt and Turkey. 



The date enters largely into the food of the people, especially during 

 poor cereal harvests, when its price is governed by that of barley. The 

 tribes of the Fezzan consume large quantities of the Tripoli dates as 

 their principal food, and every autumn caravans arrive from the inte- 

 rior, especially at Misurata, for the purposes of purchase. Animals are 

 fed on them in the oases of the interior. A large consumption of lagbi 

 or palm wine, the juice of the tree, takes place in the country among 

 all classes, religious prejudices not applying to it as an intoxicant ; 

 the season is from May to October. An incision is made near the top 

 of the tree and the sap allowed to flow into an earthenware jar which is 

 attached and changed twice a day. The flow continues nearly three 

 months, but not always in the same quantity. A good tree produces 

 lagbi to the value of 2s. to 2s. 6d. a day, but its extraction causes it to 

 produce no fruit for the next two or three years The consumption, 

 however, is great, and little labour is required. The total annu d value 

 is about £3,200, the tax being 20s. per tree excised. 



* M*. Consul- General Jago, in Foreign Office Report on Tripoli, June 190Q. 



