December, 1908.] 



557 



Plant Sanitation. 



out, and the rotten mass removed as 

 completely as possible, new leaves will 

 sometimes appear afterward, and that 

 in some of these cases the tree recovers. 

 One man states that 25 per cent, of cures 

 can be affected in this way ; I do not 

 believe that this is possible, and other 

 men that I asked agreed that if any 

 ultimately recovered they were exceed- 

 ingly few. 



[I have seen this done in two cases, 

 with trees 4-6 years old : it is not practi- 

 cable with older trees. All the fronds 

 were cut off, leaving a conical stump, 

 and the decayed tissue was cut away. 

 The stumps produced healthy fronds 

 except when the red beetle attacked 

 them.— T. P.] 



For practical purposes, the tree, 

 once it shows any symptoms of the 

 disease, is valueless, and is fortu- 

 nately so regarded by the people. The 

 thing to be done is to prevent the spread 

 of the disease from it to other trees. 



While the people understand the end 

 to be gained, the use by them of any 

 disinfecting chemicals cannot be expect- 

 ed to be effective, because of the 

 difficulty of making the disinfectant 

 reach every part of the diseased tissue. 



The only agent which can be relied 

 upon to destroy the organisms is fire. 

 Every tree which shows symptoms of 

 the disease should have its heart and 

 the structures immediately around it 

 —the apex of the trunk and the bases 

 of the leaves, at least the sheaths — 

 completely burned. During the drier 

 season this is not a very difficult matter, 

 and every diseased tree in the whole 

 infested district should be so destroyed 

 during this dry season. Even if this 

 is done, it is to be anticipated that 

 during the first few succeeding laiuy 

 months numerous eases will appear. 

 These must also be burned, and this 

 will be practicable only by the use of 

 petroleum. In my opinion, a vigorous 

 campaign of six months, beginning at 

 this time, will so restrict the disease that 

 it will cease to be a serious menace to the 

 coconut industry.— Philippine Agricul- 

 tural Review, "Vol. I„ No. 5, May, 1908. 



BUD ROT IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 



The most incurable and, unless strongly 

 handled, the most dangerous diseases of 

 the coconut are the bud rots. These 

 diseases attack the soft, young tissues at 

 the apex of the stem, and sooner or 

 later destroy the growirg point itself. 

 Since the coconut does not branch, and 

 never renews its growing point, this 

 immediately stops the formation of new 



leaves aud flowering branches and very 

 soon kills the tree. Whether or not they 

 themselves cause the disease, gas-produc- 

 ing bacteria are always present in the 

 rotting mass and produce a vile odour. 

 From a diseased or dead tree, spores or 

 germs can by various means be borne to 

 other trees ;.they are usually carried by 

 insects. When a tree is once infected by 

 bud rot it is practically impossible to 

 save it in any way, and energetic action 

 must be taken to prevent the spread of 

 the disease. Bud rot has been reported 

 in the West Indies and about the 

 Caribbean Sea, in Portuguese East 

 Africa, in Ceylon, about the Godaveri 

 River in India, and in Luzon. It is 

 worth while to describe the symptoms 

 and methods of treatment in these 

 different regious. 



A bud rot has been known to exist in 

 Cuba for many years, but received no 

 particular attention until an entomo- 

 logist, Busck, was sent there by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture 

 to investigate the coconut disease in 

 1901. He reported that if the bud rot 

 continued to spread as it had in the 

 preceding decade it would wipe out the 

 Cuban coconut industry within ten or 

 fifteen years. The disease is described 

 as superficially characterized by the 

 yellowing and fall of the outer leaves, 

 shedding the nuts, aud some mouths later 

 by the death of the whole crown. As 

 reported by Erwin Smith, the terminal 

 bud is " involved in the vilest sort of a 

 bacterial soft rot . . . the stench resem- 

 bling that of a slaughterhouse. This rot, 

 invisible until the numerous outer leaf- 

 base wrappings are removed, often in- 

 volves a diameter of several inches of 

 soft tissues and a length of 3 or 4 feet, 

 including flower buds and the whole or 

 some of the soft, fleshy, white undevelop- 

 ed leaves covering the bud and forming 

 the so-called' ' cabbage' of the palm. . . . 

 Fly larvse and various fungi were found 

 in'the parts most exposed to the air 

 and longest diseased, but the advancing 

 margin of the decay was occupied only 

 by bacteria, of which there appeared 

 to be several sorts. . . . All were white 

 organisms of the soft-rot type, mostly 

 plump short rods with rounded ends, 

 but occasionally longer rods, all appa- 

 rently gas producers. . . . The bacteria 

 probably find their entrance through 

 wounds of some sort, and their distribu- 

 tion is undoubtedly favoured by carrion 

 creatures. . . Diseased trees should be . 

 felled, and the terminal bud burned or 

 properly disinfected with sulphate of 

 copper. Only the most euergetic action 

 is likely to avail." 



The Director of the Department of 

 Agriculture of Jamaica says iu a report 



