and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, 



40? 



diseased trees were also dug out and burnt, 

 this method appears to be entirely out of the 

 questionasa general procedure. In a certain 

 number of cases the method of eradication can, 

 however, be adopted. When disease first appears 

 in a new locality there should be no hesitation in 

 applying it. A large number of individual out- 

 breaks appear to have occurred in parts not im me- 

 diately adjoining a previously diseased area. All 

 Taluk officers should be instructed to watch for 

 the first appearance of disease in any part of 

 their charge not bounded by a diseased area and 

 to take prompt steps to .have diseased trees d'jg 

 up and burnt. There will be many difficulties in 

 the way in carrying out this suggestion. Newly 

 affected palms continue to yield for some years. 

 The owners will naturally oppose their destruc- 

 tion as long as is a prospect of obtaining any 

 crop from them. This feeling can be lessened if 

 it is pointed out, by means of widely distributed 

 vernacular leaflets that the disease is infectious 

 and that measures to prevent its spread are un- 

 dertaken in the interests of the ryots themselves. 

 If detected in the early stages probably only a 

 few palms will have to be destroyed. Even where 

 a whole garden or a small group of gardens is 

 found to have the disease, the interests of the few 

 should be sacrificed to those of the many whose 

 gardens are still free. In considering this me- 

 thod of attacking the disease it must 

 be clearly borne in mind that there are 

 two quite distinct sets of circumstances. In 

 the first place there are large and continuous 

 areas of disease such as that in Minachil taluk, 

 around the margin of which a steady con- 

 tinuous extension is going on. It is ques- 

 tionable if any drastic remedy such as removing 

 newly diseased trees is practicable along the 

 margin of spread. It is probable that no- 

 thing short of clearing a belt of palms in 

 front of the disease would prove effective ; 

 reinfection from the diseased area would be 

 likely to occur as long as any healthy palms 

 remained near by. 1 am not inclined to 

 suggest so large an undertaking. In the 

 second place there are numerous isolated 

 outbreaks occurring away from previously 

 diseased localities. 'I hese, if detected early, 

 can be dealt with by the method of ex- 

 termination, at comparatively small expense 

 and with a loss that will be repaid many 

 times over by the palms thereby preserved. 

 Diseased palms of all kinds— areca, coconut, 

 talipot, sago and possibly palmyra (if it 

 should be found to get the disease) should 

 be removed. After digging out the roots 

 the hole should be well limed and the earth 

 turned over at intervals for a period of about 

 a year to destroy any remains of the fungus. 

 Replanting can then in all probability be 

 safely undertaken. Only the root and base 

 of the stem below ground need be burnt. 

 After digging up they should be split into 

 pieces, if necessary, and built around with 

 plenty of dry palm leaves or something of 

 the sort to give an intense heat when fired. 

 On no account should the excavated roots 

 be left lying about, for there is a danger 

 of spore formation taking place on the surface 

 and consequently cf dissemination through the 

 air. They should be burnt within a few hours 

 of removal. 



I believe that it is only by the most energetic 

 action in this direction that there is any chance 

 of checking the spread of the disease to hitherto 

 unaffected parts. Every new outbreak serves as 

 a focus from which a gradual but apparently 

 inevitable spread takes place. No part of North 

 Travancore is immune, and it appears to be 

 merely a matter of time before the whole area 

 becomes attacked. The outbreak at Aileppey 

 shows that even the coast belt does not 

 escape, and there has been no diminution but on 

 the contrary a steady progress there for the past 

 twenty years. The area now affected (about 25 

 acres) is sufficiently defined to make it a good 

 test case of the value of total extermination. If 

 compensation were necessary, the amount would 

 not be excessive. At the same time the few 

 gardens affected at Mukolakal, a little distance to 

 the south, should be similarly dealt with; careful 

 search should also bo made for any other similar 

 outlying cases. The question of compulsory 

 action and compensation do not appear to cafi 

 for discussion in this report. It is, however, pro- 

 bable that some form of compulsion would be 

 necessary in carrying out the above suggestions. 

 The staff that would be required and the manner 

 of their recruitment must also be left to the 

 State authorities to consider. Probably the best 

 method of ascertaining the actual requirements 

 would be to depute an officer to make a special 

 survey of the diseased taluks in North Travan- 

 core. In this all localities which appear to have 

 been recently infected, or where the disease is 

 confined to a limited area as at Aileppey, should 

 be shown, the distance from the nearest large 

 area of disease indicated and a rough estimate 

 made of the area requiring to be dealt with. To 

 assist in an enquiry of this nature, a short des- 

 cription is given below of several other minor 

 causes of ill-health in coconut palms noticed in 

 Travancore, sufficient to enable them to be dis- 

 tinguished from the root disease. (2) Ridding 

 infected soil of the parasite in order to allow of 

 replanting. — After removing all diseased palms 

 from an infected spot the soil should be rested 

 for at least a year before replanting. During 

 this time it should be " cultivated,' i.e., fre- 

 quently stirred to break up and aerate the soil. 

 Lime should also be added, where available 

 as it is likely to hasten the death of any 

 remnants of the parasite left after removing 

 the roots. Quick-lime is better for this purpose 

 than slaked lime , 



(3) The Application of Manures oe other 

 Substances to the Roots of Diseased Palms. 

 — A few remedies have been tried by cultiva- 

 tors in various places. As, however, almost 

 all were attracted by the unhealthy condition 

 of the crown and did not think of searching 

 for its cause at the roots, these applications 

 were made, for the most part, to the top of 

 the palm. Some used ashes and lime, others 

 maravetti (Hydnocarpus Wiflhliana) poonac, 

 without effect. Lime was applied to the roots 

 in a few cases and appears to have met with, 

 at any rate temporary, success. This line of 

 work deserves to be followed up. It is pos- 

 sible that the application of lime cr some other 

 substance to the roots may enable new roots 

 to be put out and escape attack by destroying 

 the parasite in the soil. There is an Agricul- 

 tural Inspector attached to the Experimental 



