Plant Sanitation. 



320 



[October, 1910. 



succumb, particularly from April to 

 July. In periods of less active growth 

 many plants seem to recover, but only 

 to die during the next season of rapid 

 growth. 



Neither draining nor improved methods 

 of cultivation and pruning have checked 

 disease. Indeed, increased fertilization 

 seems to make it more virulent. There 

 is no evidence that insects are in any 

 way responsible for the trouble. 



Microscopic examination of the stained 

 vascular bundles above-mentioned shows 

 that the coloring is due to a rather in- 

 soluble gummy substance (not a true 

 gum) that more or less completely plugs 

 th« vessels and cells of the xylem. In 

 this bacteria and, in some cases, fungus 

 hyphse, were found imbedded. 



Bacterial organisms isolated in Central 

 America from diseased material have 

 been cultivated by the writer, and inocu- 

 lated into healthy plants on the planta- 

 tions and in green-houses of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in Washington. 



The results of this phase of the investi* 

 gation will be given later. It may be 

 stated, however, that the blight is in all 

 probability a vegetable parasite which 

 makes its entrance into the plant 

 through the rhizome or roots. 



No good method of control of the 

 disease has yet been found: The pro- 

 gress of the disease in its early stages 

 may be delayed by digging out and 

 burning diseased plauts, replacing them 

 with healthy suckers. 



The hope of continuing the banana 

 industry successfully in the affected 

 districts lies in the substitution of an 

 immune variety. This the writer has 

 found in a Chinese banana now occasion- 

 ally grown in Central America. This 

 sort is easily grown, yields good fruit, 

 and has been found entirely resistant. 

 The plantain is slightly but not seriously 

 affected by the blight. The red banana 

 is also subject to this blight, but less 

 than the common yellow (Martinique) 

 variety. 



AGRICULTURAL FINANCE AND CO-OPERATION. 



CO-OPERATIVE AGRICULTURAL 

 SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED 

 KINGDOM. 



(From the Journal oj the Board of Agri- 

 culture, Vol. XVII., No. 2, May 1910.) 

 Co-operative production and distri- 

 bution in the United Kingdom as ap- 

 plied to agriculture, which until recent 

 years had been mainly confined to 

 Ireland, recently made considerable pro- 

 gress in Great Britain. The societies 

 dealt with below are those registered 

 under the Industrial and Provident 

 Societies Acts, and the Friendly So- 

 cieties Acts. 



Productive and Distributive Societies. — 

 While in the main the industrial co- 

 operative societies are carried on and 

 managed by the members as a means of 

 improving their position as consumers, 

 in the case of agricultural co-operative 

 societies the main object is usually to 

 enable the members more efficiently and 

 profitably to carry on their daily occu- 

 pation as individual farmers and pro- 

 ducers. For this purpose the societies 

 formed are of two kinds, which may 

 conveniently be classed as "Produc- 

 tive" and "Distributive" Societies. 



The "productive" societies take the 

 form mainly of creameries or dairies, 

 which purchase from the members the 

 milk or cream produced by them as indi- 

 vidual farmers. This is manufactured 



by the societies into butter, cheese, &c, 

 by paid employees, and sold in the opeu 

 markets, the operations in the societies 

 have also undertaken the supply of 

 members ' requirements, to avoid the 

 formation of a separate " distributive " 

 society. 



The " Distributive " societies are usu- 

 ally formed for the collective purchase 

 and distribution of the seeds, manures, 

 implements, &c, required by the mem- 

 bers, and for the sale in the markets, of 

 the cattle, eggs, poultry, and other 

 products of the industry of the mem- 

 bers in their capacity of individual 

 farmers. The profits, as stated in the 

 rules of both types of societies, are 

 distributed among the members pro 

 rata upon the value of the goods pur- 

 chased from and sold to the society, but 

 in practice are frequently added to the 

 reserve fund. 



In addition to these two groups of 

 societies formed especially for agricul- 

 tural purposes, there were, in 1908, 60 

 industrial societies (two wholesale and 

 67 retail distributive societies which 

 carried on farming and dairyiug depart- 

 ments mainly as a means of producing 

 milk, butter, vegetables, &c, for the 

 use of their members, the goods so pro- 

 duced being transferred to the distri- 

 butive departments of the societies, and 

 the profits, if any, being merged into 

 the profits of the other departments 



