180 



not be marketable. It has a curious loose jacket which is also 

 characteristic of the Cuban I'lantain. If it is the same thing, and 

 this could only be ascertained by seeing it growing, it is certainly not 

 worth cultivating. 



DISEASE OF GINGER IN JAMAICA. 



From the Superintendent Hope Gardens, Jamaica, to the Commissioner 

 Imperial Dept. of Agriculture, Barbados. 



21st Oct., 1901. 



I send by this mail a coupl e of roots of Ginger affected by the di- 

 sease known as " black rot." I brought the plants a few days ago from 

 the Ginger district on the borders of the parishes of Trelawny, St. 

 Ann, Manchester and Clarendon. 



The disease is well known, and affected plants are easily detected. 

 The symptoms are — sickly-3 7 ellow foliage, stem black and decaying. 

 The rhizome of such a plant will also be found to be black and decaying. 



The growers carefully dig up affected plants, and the apparently 

 healthy plants next to them in the same row, and destroy them ; they 

 also turn up the soil in which the plants were growing, exposing it to 

 the sun, and thus check the spread of the disease. If the disease is 

 neglected, it spreads rapidly, and soon destroys a whole patch of Ginger. 



I was told of another disease that sometimes appears in the same 

 district. It is known as " cork rot," and cannot be detected till the 

 crop is ready for gathering. The growth of the plants is not checked 

 in any way, but when the rhizomes are dug they are found to be of 

 cork-like texture, without substance, and of no value. 



My inform ant told me that three years ago, out of a crop which 

 was estimated to yield 50 to 60 barrels of good Ginger he only got a 

 little over £> barrels of rhizomes that were not diseased, the remainder 

 of the crop having been destroyed by " cork rot." 



If the material sent is not sufficient for purposes of examination by 

 Mr. Howard, I would try and get some more from the same district, 

 and perhaps he would prefer to have the plants in a fresh, or moist 

 state, instead of being dried. W. Harris. 



Imperial Agricultural Department for the West Indies 



Barbados, 28 10. 01. 



Dear Mr. Harris, 



I enclose a Memorandum on the specimens of diseased ginger by 

 Mr. Howard, to whom they were referred for examination. 



I trust you will be able to carry out the suggested experiment in 

 which the yields on contiguous acre or half-acre plots in which the 

 rhizomes used for planting have been treated with Bordeaux mixture 

 in the one case, and untreated in the other, are compared and report 

 the results to this Department in due course. It would of course be 

 best if the yields are expressed in pounds or hundred weights per acre, 

 but if this is impracticable, it could be given in barrels. 

 With kind regards, believe me, 



Yours sincerely, D. Morris, 



Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies. 

 W. Harris, Esq., F.L.S., 



Superintendent of Hope Gardens, Jamaica. 



