Plant Sanitation. 



40 



[January, 1910. 



the experiment on these two, Nos. 2 

 and 3, comprising 58 acres only, were 

 not expected to turn out better. Mos- 

 quitoes from the outlying untreated 

 area must have been visiting them 

 throughout the operations. Also the 

 correct time for starting this work was 

 long past and the insects had well 

 established themselves when spraying 

 was commenced in August." 



The cost of these experiments, " with- 

 out taking into consideration the initial 

 cost of spraying machines," works out 

 at Rs. 1'37 per acre. "In this work 

 the two 'Standard' pumps, three 

 * Knapsack ' sprayers and some water- 

 ing cans" were used. "Five big boys 

 were employed to each ' Standard' pump 

 and two boys to each Knapsack sprayer. 

 Two boys prepared the soap solution and 

 smaller children with women supplied 

 the water. The average number of 

 acres done in a day with the above five 

 machines amounted to eight. The Knap- 

 sack sprayers proved the cheapest and 

 got over the ground quickest." 



Subsequently, in a private letter, Mr. 

 Anti*am informs me "that from prac- 

 tical work and observations it is not now 

 found necessary to carry out spraying 

 on the large scale suggested, just after 

 pruning the bushes. In India, climatic 

 influences kill off the insects in early 

 spring, and if weather continues unfa- 

 vourable for the insects, blight does no 

 damage till late in the season. I find it 

 quite sufficient to start spraying when 

 the insects first appear and punctures 

 show up on individual bushes .... By 

 continuing application so long as fresh 

 punctures appear, the blight can be 

 kept in check throughout the remainder 

 of the season, two to three applications 

 generally eradicating it. Blight will 

 appear in fresh places, and it is these 

 that must be carefully looked for after 

 the blight has once appeared on a 

 garden." 



These two circulars must be consider- 

 ed a valuable addition to the literature 

 on the subject. If the results of this 

 treatment continue to bear out the ex- 

 pectations of its inventor, Mr. Autram 

 will have earned the gratitude of tea 

 planters who have been battling against 

 this— the worst of all tea pests— for so 

 many years with such poor success. 



Although our local conditions are 

 somewhat different to those in India, 

 the treatment would appear to be equal- 

 ly applicable in our case, and is well 

 worth an extensive trial. 



E. ERNEST GREEN. 



MISCELLANEA: CHIEFLY 

 PATHOLOGICAL. 



By T. Pbtch, b.a„ b.sc. 



It is rather a difficult matter to invent 

 popular names for fungus diseases, — at 

 least, names which will distinguish 

 any given disease from any other. 

 "Root rot," for example, does not differ- 

 entiate between several root diseases, 

 even when the name of the host plant is 

 added. " Root rot of tea " might mean 

 the disease caused by Rosellinia both- 

 rina, or Ustulina zonata, or Poria hypo- 

 lateritia, etc. The mycologist knows 

 diseases by the name of the fungus or 

 other organism which causes them ; and 

 incidentally it may be remarked that 

 an account of a disease which does not 

 give the name or description of the 

 fungus is not of much assistance to a 

 mycologist, however learned it may 

 appear. Attempts have recently been 

 made to popularise a system in which 

 the name of the disease is coined from 

 the name of the fungus, but this nomen- 

 clature is neither " happs r " nor distinc- 

 tive. By this system, the root disease 

 of Hevea caused by Fomes semitostus 

 would be called " Fomose of Hevea," but 

 since several species of Fomes will grow 

 on Hevea, the name does not fulfil our 

 requirements. It would seem that the 

 planter must add a few Latin names to 

 his vocabulary. *' Pink disease," for 

 the disease caused by Corticium javan- 

 icum, was sufficiently descriptive to 

 enable dozens of planters to identify it. 

 But it has been objected to because 

 " there is more than one pink fungus," 

 and it is proposed to remember it by the 

 name Corticium. But this critic neg- 

 lects to inform his readers that there is 

 also more than one species of Corticium! 

 If the Latin name is used, it must be the 

 full name, CoHicium javanicum. 



As the market price of rubber is 

 governed to some extent by its 

 appearance, any departures from a 

 uniform colouration are undesirable ; 

 consequently spotted biscuits are fre- 

 quently sent in for examination and 

 report. Clear red spots in rubber bis- 

 cuits or crepe appear to be fairly com- 

 mon ; the cause of these has not yet 

 been ascertained. Another colouration 

 has just been reported ; in this case wet 

 biscuits were covered with black spots, 

 up to an inch in diameter, the discolour- 

 ation extending right through the bis- 

 cuit. These spots contained bacteria, 

 together with minute particles of a 

 black pigment to which the discolour- 

 ation was due. It is probable that in 

 this case the pigment was excreted by 



