May, 1910.] 



407 



Timbers. 



ing the crests of the hills and the steep 

 slopes from the operations of the farmer 

 on the general grounds of preserving the 

 climatic conditions that are of most 

 value to the country. 



When discussing the dry open country 

 of the Afram plains (Report, pp. 84-92) 

 some useful information is given as to 

 the various plants and trees of this 

 region from which it appears that the 

 list of useful plants is one of some 

 „ length and includes plants of consider- 

 able value. 



A few remarks on the subject of game 

 and game laws are of interest and 

 deserve attention. It is pointed out that 

 whilst Europeans are obliged to take out 

 licenses and are restricted as regards the 

 shooting of certain species, no steps 

 whatever have been taken to limit in 

 any way the incessant slaughter carried 

 on by the natives. The European's bag 

 is as nothing compared with the annual 

 bag of the native, and game preservation 

 at present is a failure. The hunting 

 class appears to be composed of those 

 who were formerly the fighters and now, 

 owing to peaceful times, having been 

 deprived of this employment, have taken 

 to the chase of wild animals with 

 renewed energy. 



In conclusion, it may be pointed out 

 that the problems confronting the Gold 



Coast Colony with regard to its forests 

 are difficult and serious, since the preser- 

 vation of the evergreen forests, on which 

 the water supply so largely depends, 

 and of the deciduous forests forming a 

 belt against the Savanah Country, is at 

 stake, and with this is bound up the 

 general character of the agricultural 

 operations of the Colony. The most 

 pressing need in connection with forest 

 conservancy is the prevention of the 

 wholesale destruction of the forest for 

 farming purposes, in comparison with 

 which the accumulated effect of timber 

 exploitation is stated to be "a mere 

 bagatelle." 



GLIRIOfDTA. MACCJLATA. 



(Prom the Agricultural News, Vol. IX., 

 No. 203, February 5, 1910.) 

 An account of a new use for the 

 Nicaraguau shade tree (Gliricidia macu- 

 lata) is given in No. 61 of the Bulletin of 

 Agricultural Information, Trinidad. It 

 consists in cutting off such parts of the 

 branches as may have grown sufficiently 

 to extend below those of the cacao trees 

 which it protects, and using them as a 

 mulch. Such material should form a 

 valuable addition to the matter that is 

 available for mulching in cacao orchards 



PLANT SANITATION. 



THE DISEASES OP CACAO. 



By T. Pbtch. 

 [Die Krankheiten und Parasiteu des 

 Kakaobaumes. P. C. VON Faber. 

 Arbeiten der Kaiserl. Biologischen 

 Anstalt.] 



To anyone who studies the literature 

 relating to cacao diseases, . the most 

 striking feature of it is the paucity of 

 records of scientific investigation, though 

 the diseases have been known to exist 

 for at least a dozen years. Howard 

 showed the way with a full account of 

 Diplodia cacaoicola in 1900, After that, 

 there is a gap until 1908, when P. C. von 

 Faber published an account of the 

 "Witches Broom" disease in Surinam, 

 together with some details relating to 

 cacao " canker." This was followed, in 

 1909, by a very complete and excellently 

 illustrated paper on the " Krulloten 

 ziekte " of Surinam by C. J. J. van Hall 

 and A. W. Drost, and a similar paper on 

 Diplodia cacaoicola by A. E. van Hall 

 and A. W. Drost from the same country. 



Surinam has now taken the foremost 

 position in the investigation of cacao 

 diseases, and its reputation has been 

 recently enhanced by the publication of 

 a paper on cacao " canker," by A. E. van 

 Hall, which fully maintains the high 

 standard set by the contributions pre- 

 viously referred to. This last named 

 paper has already been summarised for 

 the Tropical Agriculturist. 



P. C. von Faber has now collected all 

 the available information relating to the 

 diseases and insect pests of cacao, up to 

 1909, and has published a beautifully 

 illustrated work, giving a full summary 

 of the records of previous authors as well 

 as details of his own investigations. The 

 material has been carefully summarised, 

 and the only possible objection that can 

 be raised is that the author might in 

 some eases have been more critical. 

 From the point of completeness, it is un- 

 fortunate that several valuable con- 

 tributions should have appeared almost 

 simultaneously with its publication. 



