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COFFEE LEAF DISEASE. 



Every precaution is taken by the Government to keep out the Coffee Leaf Disease, the ruin of 

 many a planter in various parts of the world. The Proclamation, inserted below, has been issued to 

 prevent the spores (seeds) of the deadly fungus, Ilemeleia vastatrix, being by any possibility introduced 

 in the coverings of tea chests. But it would be well for Coffee Planters in Jamaica to acquaint them- 

 selves with the nature of the disease and suggested remedies, so thnt if by some misfortune the Ileme- 

 leia happened, in spite of every precaution, to be introduced, they might at once be in a position to 

 battle with the foe. Dr. Burck's interesting article is reproduced from the " Bulletin" for last April, 

 edited by Mr. H. N. Ridley, Director of Gardens and Forests, Straits Settlements. 



Wilsone Black, Major-General. 



By His Honour Major General Wilsone Black, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the 

 Bath Administering the Government of the Island of Jamaica and its Dependencies. 



A PROCLAMATION. 



T17HEREAS it is enacted by Section 1 of Law 25 of 1891, " A Law in aid of the Seeds and Plants 

 W "Importation Law, 1884," that is to say, in aid of Law 4 of 1884, that "it shall be lawful for 

 " the Governor by Proclamation under the provisions of the said Law to prohibit the importation 

 "from the Country named in such Proclamation of any particular goods, packages, coverings or other 

 "articles or things to be named in such Proclamation which in his judgment are likely to be a 

 "means of introducing diseases in plants from the Country to which such Proclamation applies:" 

 And whereas it has been made to appear to me the Major-General Administering the Government of 

 this Island and of its Dependencies for the time being, that chests or cases of Tea imported directly or 

 indirectly into this Island from India or the Island of Ceylon are frequently enclosed in coverings of 

 fibrous cloth or other fibrous material : And whereas in my judgment such coverings are likely to be 

 a means of introducing diseases in plants from the said Countries : 



Now I, the Major-General Administering the Government as aforesaid, do hereby prohibit from 

 the date of this Proclamation the importation into this Island of all coverings or wrappers of fibrous 

 cloth or other fibrous material as aforesaid in which chests or cases of Tea imported directly or indirectly 

 from India or Ceylon may be enclosed, and I hereby direct that chests or cases of Tea coming directly 

 or indirectly from either of the said Countries be allowed to be imported only on condition that any 

 such covering as aforesaid be first stripped off and burnt by the Officers of Customs, and that no such 

 coverings shall be permitted by the Customs Authorities of this Island to be landed in any part thereof. 



Given under my Hand and Seal at King's House, this 24th day of June, in the 55th year of Her 

 Majesty's Reign, Annoque Domini, 1891. 



By Command, 



J. Allwood, Acting Colonial Secretary. 



DR. BURCK'S METHOD OF TREATMENT OF THE COFFEE-LEAF 



DISEASE IN JAVA. 



Introduction. 



Ai'ticles have been recently published in the Javaasche Courant under the title of " Over 

 de Koffieblad ziekte" by Dr. Burck, the Assistant Director of the Botanical Gardens at Buit- 

 enzorg, which are the results of some years' observations and experiments. The methods employed by 

 Dr. Burck have been so successful in Java that it seems well worth while to publish here a condensed 

 translation, or rather abstract, of the original papers (which are published in Dutch) in the hope that 

 some Malayan planters may try what the results of Dr Burck's plan may be here. 



For the translation I am indebted to Mr. P. Nuy, late Secretary to the Government Savings Bank 

 at Singapore. 



The Disease. 



It will be well to remind my readers of the nature of the disease and its life history which has 

 been the subject of so much careful investigation by Professor Marshall Ward and others. The disease 

 is well known to be due to a fungus termed Hemileia vastatrix which appears in the form of yellow or 

 orange coloured spots on the upper side of the leaves, while on the under side they are covered with a 

 fine orange powder. This powder consists of spores or seeds of the fungus, which are easily brushed 

 off. If this is done, however, by the next day the spot is covered again with another layer of spores. 

 This can be repeated for several days before the fungus is exhausted. 



Professor Marshall Ward has estimated that each sick spot can produce 150,000 spores in a day, 

 and can continue this production for from 7 to 11 weeks, and as there are often 60 or 70 spots upon one 

 leaf, the number of spores produced in a coffee plantation at all affected by the disease is something 

 enormous. 



The spores are borne away by the winds and scattered far v \A wide. All those that fall upon a 

 coffee leaf, and find there the requisite conditions of existence, will develop the disease in that leaf. If 

 they fall upon the trunk of the tree, or upon .the ground, or upon the leaves of other plants, or even 

 upon the upper side of a coffee leaf they perish. When a spore falls in a drop of water on the under 



