Edible Products. 



538 



[December, 1908. 



ment of Fungoid Pests, ' issued by the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 should be consulted if fungus diseases 

 are at all prevalent. 



The damping off of young seedlings is 

 prevalent when the weather is continu- 

 ally damp for periods of several days, or 

 when the seed beds have been sown too 

 thickly. The fungus is liable to attack 

 seedlings from the time they appear 

 above ground until they are about ten 

 days old. It turns the leaves and tender 

 stems black, so its appearance is readily 

 noted. When observed, the seedlings 

 should be sprayed with a 5-per cent, solu- 

 tion of copper sulphate. Damping off may 

 generally be overcome in Dominica by 

 making sowings in December and Janu- 

 ary, and thereby raising the seedlings 

 during the drier part of the year. 



A constant look-out is necessary on a 

 lime plantation for parasitic growths. 

 Two species of Loranthus, known locally 

 as 'Mistletoe,' are common on certain 

 native trees in Dominica. The sticky 

 seeds are carried by birds to the lime 

 tree, which proves a suitable host plant, 

 and here the parasite spreads rapidly. 

 Where watchfulness is practised and the 

 ' Mistletoe ' destroyed on its early appear- 

 ance, it can be kept down with little ex- 

 pense. If neglected this parasite can de- 

 stroy the trees in a lime plantation. It 

 is, therefore, recommended that all 

 native plants affected with the 'Misletoe' 

 that are growing in the vicinity of 

 lime fields should be destroyed. 



In wet districts, the growth of moss, 

 lichens, climbing ferns, orchids, and 

 bromeliads on lime trees causes some 

 trouble. These plants have to be 

 removed by hand. Brushes are generally 

 used to remove the moss and lichens 

 from the trunks of the trees. Experi- 

 ments have shown that moss and lichens 

 can be killed by spraying with a 5-per 

 cent, copper sulphate solution, without 

 in any way injuring the lime tree, but it 

 is still questionable whether such a 

 spraying could be economically practised 

 on an estate scale. 



(To be continued.) 



PROPAGATION OP TOBACCO 

 IN CUBA. 



By C. F. Baker. 

 (Concluded jrom 'page 



(b.) Planting. 

 The beds being ready and the frame- 

 works up, planting may be done at any 

 time, and the untiring care in connec- 

 tion with watering and managing the 

 covers begun, By this time the soil 



will have been properly prepared, and 

 if the beds be banked by boards or poles, 

 the soil should fill it to the very brim, 

 and should be carefully fined and 

 levelled off with a rake. Every bed in 

 which it is intended to raise posturas 

 directly from seed without intermedi- 

 ate handling should be carefully and 

 thoroughly sterilized. This operation is 

 essential to the best success. Just so 

 surely as prevention is better than 

 cure, just so surely is it better to do 

 this work thoroughly and not be com- 

 pelled to suffer losses and work with 

 remedies afterward. Formalin has 

 been recommended, but is so costly as 

 to be practically prohibitive, to say 

 nothing of the fact that its action is 

 uncertain, and that when put on strong 

 enough to effect a perfect sterilization, 

 it will, under certain conditions, inter- 

 fere with the subsequent growth of 

 the plants. In any ordinary strength 

 it does not sterilize (see Figure III.). 

 The methods almost universally in use 

 in Cuba is firing. In the case of fire 

 built on the surface of the ground the 

 heat seems to largely go upward, where- 

 as the penetration downward in the 

 ordinary procedure is very slight, only 

 the most superficial layers being steri- 

 lized (see figure IV.). We prepared a 

 number of small beds, and in conjunc- 

 tion with the Department of Vegeta- 

 ble Pathology, treated them by these 

 methods, and also by a third method 

 in common use in other parts of the 

 world— hot water. Water was heated 

 to near boiling and thrown over the 

 beds. In all these test beds seeds were 

 planted very thickly to give the best 

 possible condition for the action of the 

 fungus. Otherwise the beds were treat- 

 ed exactly the same. Results are 

 shown in the accompanying figures I. to 

 VI. The hot water beds (figure II.) were 

 perfectly clean for many days. Finally 

 two or three small spots appeared in 

 two of the beds, the source of" infection 

 probably being below the surface or 

 outside the bed. The water was thrown 

 on with a pail and hence the applica- 

 tion was not as uniform or effective 

 as if put on with a pot. One of these 

 beds remained perfectly clear of the 

 fungus. In the fired and formalin treat- 

 ed beds the plants were eventually all 

 swept away. Later another bed was 

 treated with hct water, it being put 

 on boiling hot with watering pots and 

 every inch of the surface gone over twice 

 and given a thorough wetting. The 

 crop on this bed was perfectly clear 

 of fungus. If the water is put on first, 

 the planting should be deferred several 

 days after, until the soil becomes quite 

 friable again. 



