Miscellaneous* 



174 



[August, 1908. 



yielding stronger and more uniform fibres 

 than those produced by the common large 

 yellow banana of the American tropics. 

 Three or four machines have recently been 

 used in the Philippines for cleansing abaca 

 fibre, and it is quite probable that these 

 machines might be used successfully in 

 cleaning plantain fibre. It is said that one 

 of the most promising of these machines is 

 the one invented by Mr. Eugene Behrendt, 

 and manufactured by the Watson Machine 

 Co. of Paterson, New Jersey. Banana fibre 

 may also be cleaned on a machine made by 

 the Finigan-Zabriskie Co. at Paterson, New 

 Jersey, providing the leaf stalks are first put 

 through crushing rollers to break down and 

 soften the tissues." 



Travancore Coconut Disease. — The 

 Director of Agriculture, Madras, has trans- 

 mitted a copy of a note on this disease, 

 drawn up by Dr. Butler, the Imperial My- 

 cologist. From it is taken the following : — 



" The first sign of this disease is that some 

 or all of the leaves turn yellow as if they did 

 not get enough water. Then the tips of the 

 leaflets dry up and hang down. At the same 

 time the outer leaves bend away from the 

 crown and become loosened, so that they can 

 easily be torn oft' from the tree. In one or 

 two years all the leaves will have turned 

 yellow and dried up at the tips. When this 

 happens the bunches of nuts get affected ; 

 at first some of the nuts do not ripen 

 properly but fall to the ground in an 

 immature condition, next year there will be 

 fewer and smaller nuts, and after four or five 

 years there may be none at all. Sometimes 

 the flower spathes are unable to break out 

 from the base of the leaves ; usually, however, 

 they are formed, but are not strong enough 

 to produce good nuts. Such nuts as are 

 given by diseased trees are of bad quality, 

 the copra is hard and gives little oil, and the 

 water inside the nut is disagreeable in taste 

 and diminished in quantity. Gradually, as 

 the palm gets more and more weakened, the 

 new leaves that are formed are smaller than 

 those of healthy trees. The centre shoot, 

 which stands straight up in the middle of the 

 crown, gets shortened and turns yellow, or 

 may even wither completely. After five or 

 ten years the diseased palm may dry up 

 altogether and the heads fall oft'. This is 

 fairly common in some places, as in the 

 Minachil Taluk of Travancore, while in 

 others, as at Changanacherry, very few trees 

 have died, even though some have been 

 barren for many years. Areca palms are 

 attacked in the same way. As they are 

 smaller and more delicate they become 

 barren more quickly than with coconuts, and 

 they may be killed in from three to five 

 years, though often they remain barren for 

 much longer without dying. They are 

 never killed in a few months, as in the 

 Koleroga disease, which attacks areca 

 palms in Mysore. It is caused by a little 



' fungus,' which attacks the roots in the soil 

 and causes them to rot. This is so small and 

 grows in the soil, but can only move along 

 underground very slowly. It has taken 

 about ten years to get from one village in 

 Travancore to another only a few miles 

 away. If people take soil or coconut roots 

 from a diseased garden and put them into a 

 healthy garden the 'fungus' may be brought 

 along in the soil or roots, and may begin 

 to attack healthy trees at once. This must 

 be the way that it has spread over a large 

 part of North Travancore in the last twenty 

 years, for in this manner it can, of course, 

 be made to travel quickly. Hence people 

 should be very careful not to let any soil or 

 roots from a diseased garden into their 

 gardens. Ths only way to kill the 'fungus' 

 is to dig up and burn the roots of the 

 diseased trees as soon as any are noticed." 



Agricultural Instructors. — In addition 

 to the two Instructors working in the 

 Sinhalese districts, another Instructor has 

 been appointed for service in the Tamil 

 districts. These officers are now working 

 according to an organized plan, and are 

 dealing with the districts in detail. Branch 

 Societies are free to apply for their services. 

 The services of the Stock Inspectors, who 

 are also trained Agricultural Instructors, are 

 also available when they can be spared from 

 their veterinary duties, 



General Meeting. — The Annual General 

 Meeting of the Society was held on June 15, 

 when the Secretary presented his report and 

 His Excellency the President delivered an 

 important address. The proceedings, includ- 

 ing His Excellency's speech, are recorded 

 in the magazine of the Society. A paper 

 by Mr. H. F. Macmillan, entitled " Some 

 beautiful Tropical Trees and their uses," was 

 read on that occassion. 



Horetuduwa Gardens. — Another stage 

 has been reached in the arrangements for 

 opening these gardens, towards which Mr. 

 Simon Fernando Sri Chandrasekera, Mudali- 

 yar, has gifted a sum of Rs. 2,500. Consider- 

 able delay has been caused in the preparation 

 of the necessary plans and deeds for handing 

 over the sites which Mr. Fernando is placing 

 at the disposal of the Society. The Secretary 

 met the donor and his notary on the spot 

 on July 12, and there is now a prospect of the 

 land being taken in hand in September next 

 and got ready for planting during the 

 October rains. 



Seedlings. — The Superintendent of School 

 Gardens reports that he has a good stock of 

 mangosteen seedlings in bamboo pots avail- 

 able. There is still a number of grape fruit 

 plants, also in bamboo pots, left over from 

 the lot raised from seed supplied by the 

 U. S. A. Department of Agriculture. 



Agricultural Implements. — A trial of 

 implements was held under the auspices of 

 the Society at the Government Dairy pre- 



