290 The Supplement to the 



Mr. Fetch : — Certainly. 



Mr. Ferguson :— Did I hear you say "im- 

 ported" when referring to this disease? 



Mr. Petch :— No ; I consider you had the 

 disease as long as you had the coconut tree. 



Mr. Ferguson:— Do you think that the sow- 

 ing of local seed nuts results in the disease ? 



Mr. Petch :— No. 



Mr. Ferguson :— Will you recommend at this 

 etage to anyone planting coconuts to get seed 

 nuts from elsewhere ? 



Mr. Petch:— No. 



Mr. Ferguson :— Is the disease in the Goda- 

 very district the same ? 

 Mr. Petch :— It is different. 

 Mr. Ferguson :— Is that disease in the island? 

 Mr. Petch : — No. 



Mr. Ferguson :— It is not allied to bud rot ? 

 Mr. Petch:— Not allied. Though it attacks 

 the same part of the tree it is entirely different. 

 Mr. Ferguson :— And is caused by a fungus ? 

 Mr. Petch:— Yes. 



Mr. Ferguson :— In the case of rubbish on 

 coconut estates, should not the application 

 of lime to such rubbish save the risk of in- 

 fection through such heaps ? 



Mr. Petch :— Yes. 



Mr. Ferguson : — You prefer burning the 

 rubbish r 



Mr. £" etch : — Yes. It is a question for ex- 

 periment as to what proportion of lime 



Will Stop the Growth of the Fungus. 



Mr. Ferguson : — From what you have heard 

 and seen, do you consider the disease has ex- 

 tended since your attention was directed to it 

 iu 1906 ? 



Mr. Petch :— 1 think it has scarcely ex- 

 tended, but now ever} Dody is on the look- 

 out for it. 



Mr. Ferguson :— =Have you heard lately much 

 about buu rot? 



Mr. Petch : — We have only had one case 

 sent in since last August, There have only been 

 three cases ever reported at Peradeniya. 



Mr. Ferguson : — To counteract the adverse 

 criticism, and much of it is unnecessary criti- 

 cism, to which you have referred today, I have 

 today heard of a gentleman who was able to 

 discover the bud rot disease from your report 

 at a certain time. He at once destroyed 

 the tree and has not been troubled since, so 

 your writing has not been altogether thrown 

 away, (Hear, hear, 



Tropical Agriculturist 



Mr. Weerackody : — May I ask whether the 

 fungus of the bud rot disea.se and that of the 

 stem disease are the same ? 



Mr. Petch :— They are not the same ; and are 

 quite different fungi. 



Mr. Weekack dy— (handing a slip of paper 

 with the name of a plantat ion) : Is that the estate 

 you visited for bud rot ? 



Mr. Petch : — Yes. We cut down and burned 

 the trees affected. We saw a group of trees 

 which had bud rot. There were cases which 

 were undoubtedly bud rot ; and there were 

 other cases which we thought doubtful, but we 

 put down the whole lot and b urned the tops. 



Mr. Weerackody : — That estate was first 

 planted with Liberian coffee and subsequently 

 fully planted with coconuts and tea. The sur- 

 face soil had been scraped off and the trees were 

 standing on gravelly soil. Could that be a 

 reason for the appearance of the disease ? 



Mr. Petch : — No. There was a case in Dum 

 bara In dark soil. Soil conditions have nothing 

 to do with bud rot, which is caused by a 

 bacteria. 



Mr. Weerackody i — Have you enquired into 

 the leaf disease of the coconut ? 



Mr. Petch : — The spots on the leaf are caused 

 by a blight similar to the Grey Blight of tea, 

 practically all over the Island. The damage is 

 practically nothing. 



Mr. Weekackoby :— I have a small garden, and 

 the coconut trees in it are affected with a leaf 

 disease which [tired to eradicate for three years 

 but failed. It appears to get worse. The leaves 

 are dropping, and the nut bunches are broken 

 and hanging. 



Mr. Petch :— I do not think that is a leaf 

 disease. You had better write to me particulars 

 and I will come and see the trees. The coconut 

 loaf disease is found all over the Island, and it 

 is not worth doing ar j thing to. It is perfectly 

 harmless. 



Dr. H. M. Fernando — remarked, with reference 

 to the stem disease, that a larger percent- 

 age of cases on old estates than on young was 

 to be found. Did not that show that the disease 



had been in existence for a great number of 

 years ? 



Mr. Petch:— Yes, but I don't like to hold to 

 your percentage in evory case. 



Dr. Fernando— said that the Society would 

 be glad to supply Mr. Petch with any information 

 that was necessary, The Society would be glad. 



