January 2, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
653 
tbem to him for correction ami amendment. I wrote 
by last mail to my agent in Colombo respecting Mr. 
Sto 
remi 
from Government for his 
n, ho would transfer the 
nion is that Mr. Storck 
honour of discovering ibis remedy should have been 
reserved for a Fijian settler. — Your obedient servant, 
WM. EILLINGHAM PARR. 
Upper I Iowa, Fiji, October 20th, 
Sir,— In i 
and the Tv 
veri<y upon 
stroying the 
showers aft< 
that the gr< 
Just imiigin* 
fungus could do no better, not even taking into ac- 
count ihe dillii'ully and expense of the task. Those 
leaves shoul I be disturbed as little as possible, not 
even by the foot of a passing laborer. But if you do 
want to do anything to them, give them a liberal 
dusting, of which the trees will get their share, of 
good, active lime in dry breezy weather, about once 
in 14 days during the period of the leaf shower. Let 
all lie until they are quite black and dead; then fork 
them in, and you will rind an abatement of leaf-disease 
for a twelvemonth on a field so treated. The empty 
shell of a spore is quite a* dead nod harmless under 
the ground as that of any other seed. Nor is there 
any fear of the formation of nidus of that fungus 
below the ground, as some of your correspondents ae>-m 
to apprehend, because the fungus cannot live there 
in any of its condition:;. I think the value of lime, 
as a disinfectant against ffemitia vasiatrix, is not nearly 
enough appreciated. I ' s effects as a mitigant of that 
post are far more impi riant than it is generally 
credited with, and- although a compulsory expense, 
its application nerves ibie purpose. I have by 
syst in it cal application entirely and 1 i-tingly cored a 
considerable number of coffee trees, with nothing but 
purr lime. 
1 was iiiiich pleasoil to see several of your corre- 
spondents take a rational view of the manner .in winch 
the Ceylon plantation coffee plant has deteriorated in 
phys cal oondition, io w hich fact the origin of leaf- 
disc lose iituy yet be traced. Only to mention the 
Barbarous proceeding of using seed from maiden crops, 
sod from the immediate viciui'y for scores of years in 
■secession. Tropical plants »ill far sooner show a 
det^'iorii iou "t specie- l«y iii'iinercet propagation titan 
those of the temperate zone , whete over-production unci 
reckless propagation have already shown such dire 
eff.it among 'bo fruitJ aDd .vines of Europe. It 
■ Af' well known to (jardeners. that successive pro- 
'pagaln.'i by cutting-i from • utting* and grafts from 
grafts weakens the specific h.nline-s of any plant, 
which ii to bo noticed in their produeo, whether 
flow-rs or frint. Although tho art of grafting is 
very old, it ban not ecu very - extensivoly prac- 
tised f,.i purposes of syateii ilical propagation (multi- 
plicati' n) of any uiven and previously approved variety 
Of fruit until mine 200 years »g". But snuio quarter 
Of a oe>. lory h«ek ninny of tho most intelligent fruit- 
grow o i j of Europe, gardeners and amateurs, became 
aliv. to the faot that many of tho oneo standard 
hotis. i nl 1 nineties of apples and peart show ed tut- 
tniaUkobtu «igns of deterioration, both in their 
164 
physical appearance, and in the size and flaior 
of their fruit. So far, no epidemic has shown itself 
among that class of fruit, but let us look at the 
vines of the south of Europe. There are vai i -ti a 
grown there, which have been steadily propagated uy 
cuttings since the days of Charlemagne, or, perhaps, 
the Romaus, and what is the consequence? Both, 
fungi and insect pests are combining to accomplish 
the extermination of the very species. Similar pbeno- 
meia are ulreudy noticeable among the native -ugar- 
caoes of this young colony, afteracouiae ofca'eles'ly 
conducted propagation by the whites of si me bix years 
only, from (o/>s, persisted in after n peated w arnings 
from the writer of this. 
What I lvivo said above on the pernicious effects of 
reckless propagation from cuttings and grafts, applies 
equally to that by seeds, and bhe indiscriminate pro- 
pagation by seeds of the coff e- plant in Ceylon is the 
less excusable, as her planters have e\ery opportunity 
of renewing their seed from the coffee-growing countries 
around them, as well as from the very cradle of the 
coffee tree itself — Arabia and Abyssinia, i have re- 
peatedly, in Ceylon paper*; met with the statement 
that plants raised from Ceylo.i seed are more subject 
anu uemntation oi line ptaut. it preys on, is uiereiore 
more pronounced in its • tfects, than in countries where 
the habilitation of the fungu3 is of more recent date. 
The deterioration of the seed is only a natural conse- 
quence of that of the mother-plant; seeds are imper- 
fectly nourished and often recklessly sown. A coliee- 
s.-ed. as most other seeds, should always undergo a 
short period of slow and natural desiccation, it should 
be shrunk before it is sown, when this partial desic- 
cation will not only be harmless, but will prove a 
stimulant to germination, very much in the same way 
and for the same reasons as with bulbs, tubira and 
even the live plants of some classes the banana for 
instance Plants grown from suoo scou "ill be less 
succulent and hardier than those grown from green 
I wOOld be glad to know a little mote ufihte rotting 
of the rootlets and the grubs etc. , of which 1 read so 
many complain s. Did you have grub or damage 
with you. before leaf-disease became get ecal ''. It would 
appear to me that there is some connection iu all 
this: — that the rotting rootb ts are tt.e natural 
consequence of a disturbance (stagnation and partial 
fermentation) of the fap of the n-ns during and 
immediately after an attack of fungus, audP fall of 
leaves, enuring a reaction upon the roots, which rot- 
ting would in that condition be a feast for<i ,/kml 
of g' lib. 
On the question of self- fertilization, I do not know 
quit« what to think. A coffee field in lull blossom, and 
ill fairly good weather, should uertmnly, of all place, 
offor the mi st favorable conditions for ctoti fe. u mix- 
tion. -But, t> judgo from the anatomy of tho floweiv 
and the short period within which fertilization must 
take place, I should say that it is intended for dir..ot — 
i.e. self fertilization. To make sure of erop-fecni. ela- 
tion, by way of experiments, it would have to be 
brought ahout by artitioial means : t'ur instance, ,ipj 
catting- off a well-set branch of d iWtre, ami carrying 
it from tree to tree, tapping, and slinking it over ana 
ap und enoh. The effcota of this, tf any, roold very 
likely bhow tlnmselves in a heavier Top 'hau that 
borne by other trees left to thom»ilvm. They would 
probabl; tend towards the pioducti. it < t rtr.m A o 8> ods 
and plants . certaiuly not tho contrary. 
As to whether germs or niyoelia of fungi infrat 
iho embryoe* of any seed, I consider au tdl rt 'ajwcu 'atioit 
for tb« i urpon* of the planter A *c-d may, puffer 
in condit on indirectly through tho effects of a lutigua 
