SUGAR CANE. 



The Assistant Colonial Secretary to the Director of Public Gardens and Plantations. 



Colonial Secretary's Office, 27th August, 1889. 



Sir, 



In continuation of the letter from this Office No. g 4 a 51 * a3 dated the 13th instant, I have the honor 

 to forward to you herewith, for your information, a copy of a letter from Kew Gardens to the Colonial 

 Office on the subject of sugar-cane disease in the Island of Java. 



I have, &c, 



(Signed) J. Allwood, Asst. Colonial Secretary. 



The Director of Public Gardens and Plantations, Gordon Town P.O. 



Kew Gardens to the Colonial Office. 



Copy. Royal Gardens, Kew, 20th July, 1889. 



Sir, 



I am desired by Mr. Thiselton Dyer to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1 9th instant, 

 forwarding an extract from a letter from the West India Committee respecting the importation of 

 sugar canes to the West Indies from Java and elsewhere. 



2. The disease of sugar cane known in Java as Sereh appears to have been i« '~ l -vn^e there for 

 many years, but it is only recently that it has assumed a serious aspect. At present it io ^u.. . 

 western sugar-growing district. Eastern Java is as yet free from it. 



3. The exact nature of this disease does not appear to have been determined. It may not be infec- 

 tious but on the other hand there can be no doubt that it is causing serious injury to the sugar in- 

 dustry in Java, and the Queensland Government has already taken action with the view of preventing 

 infected canes being introduced to that Colony. 



4. The course suggested by the West India Committee is one which appeared to Mr. Thiselton 

 Dyer to be justified by the present circumstances. No sugar canes from the East Indies, Queensland 

 or Mauritius should for the present, and until the nature of the Java disease has been determined, be 

 introduced to the West Indies, and further it would be well for planters as well as Heads of Botanic 

 Establishments in the West Indies to keep any recently introduced canes under observation with the 

 view of preventing the spread of any disease that may appear amongst them. 



I am, &c, 



(Signed) D. Morris. 



It may be as well to state that the introduction of sugar canes from Java and Mauritius is already 

 forbidden by the following Proclamation by His Excellency Sir H. W. Norman : — 



H. W. Norman. 



By His Excellency Sir Henry Wylie Norman, General of Her Majesty's Forces, Knight 

 Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of the 

 Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Companion of the Most 

 Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, Captain-General and Governor-in Chief in and 

 over the Island of Jamaica and its Dependencies. 



PROCLAMATION. 



IN virtue of the power vested in me in that behalf by the First Section of Law 4 of 1884, entitled 

 "The Seeds and Plants Importation Law, 1884," I do hereby prohibit, until further Proclamation, 

 the importation into this island of Seeds or Plants, or any description of earth or soil or any article 

 packed therewith, that may have come either directly or indirectly from any of the following Countries : 

 Natal, South India, Ceylon, Mauritius, Java, and Figi. 



Given under my hand and the Broad Seal of this Island, at King's House, this Second day of 

 December, in the Fifty-first Year of Her Majesty's Reign, Annoque Domini, 1887. 



By Command, 



J. Allwood, Acting Colonial Secretary. 



9th September, 1889. 



The Governor directs the publication, for general information, of the following letter from the 

 Assistant Director of Kew Gai dens lo the Colonial Office, on the subject of the improvement of tha 

 fiugar-cane which His Excellency has received through the Secretary of State for the Colonies. 



By Command, 



Neale Porter, 



Colonial Secretary. 



