520 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Pee. 1, 1902. 
hardiness to live in the open exposed to sun and 
dry air, where the fungus gets le-s chance of ger- 
minating. The whole question of selection in cacao 
growint^ is one of great interest and promise, noth- 
ing having been done seriously to breed improved 
forms, and it is probable that our cacao tree is little, 
if any, improvement on the native cacao of the 
Amazon Valley. I purpose to discuss this question, 
when some experiments I am making have progressed 
a little further, in a future Circular. 
Summary. 
The position of cacao in Ceylon to-day is hopeful, 
and yet not without cause for some anxiety. The 
canker is much decreased in quantity since 1898, 
owing to means having been taken meanwhile to 
combat it, and the fact that no season specially 
favourable to the fungus has occurred. But it has 
been growing in many places, chiefly native holdings, 
and these diseased places are a menace to the rest 
of the cacao iu the Island. It behoves all owners 
or managers of cacao property to satisfy themselves, 
as practical men, by reading this Circular, by personal 
observations of estates where any treatment has been 
carried out, and by information from all whose ex- 
perience and knowledge entitles them to be heard, 
whether this disease can be lessened by any practic- 
able methods. If they are satisfied as to this point, 
it is their duty to see that the cacao places which 
they control sliali be treated, and that pressure la 
brought to bear on all cacao growers to take similar 
^ If^'a general crusade were carried out in every 
cacao district in Ceylon for a few years, the can- 
ker would be reduced to a minimum, and the cost 
of guarding against and removing it would in turn 
be decreased, 
I have not been able to get a pronouncement by 
cacao growers as to their views on the effect of 
the curative and preventive means used, though 
some questions bearing on the subject have been 
sent ont by the Cacao Sub-Committee of the Planters 
Association, and the answers given will no doubt 
show the opinions of practical men. The following 
are the rules for treatment of cacao in relation to 
canker which were previously published in my reports, 
and having seen them carried out with a large 
measure of success, it is well to again lay them 
down : — 
Prevention.— 'Regulsite the shade so that the sun 
and air can reach all parts of the cacao trees, and 
keep the cacao from being so close as by its own leaves 
to densely shade the ground. _ . 
Prevent dampness by surface draining, especially in 
low hollows. 
Allow suckers to grow on all trees that show any 
sign of disease. 
Burn all dead cacao trees and branches. 
Burn all discoloured pod husks from whatever 
cause they are discoloured. (If this is not possible 
bury With lime.) 
Bury ail pods under at least two inches of soil with a 
sprinkling of lime. 
Car*.— Cut out all diseased patches on bark or 
branches, removing also a wide margin— not less 
than two inches— of appparently healthy bark, and 
bura all the pieces rtimoved. 
If thi,? method is too expensive or too drastic, 
shave lightly over the diseased areas and around 
them, and burn the shavings. This latter treatment 
is not so effticiive as cutting out. Such work should 
be done vig.irously iu the dry weather, when the 
results aie vastly better. 
Keep a gaug of expert coolies continually on the 
lo'ik out for new canker patches, and have these 
parts removed before they spread far or produce their 
Notice any dead caccio trees or branches on ncigh- 
ouring small holdings, and endeavour to get these 
moved and burnt. 
These sanitary measures should be carried ont 
on all estates, even where the canker is very rare, 
and the personal ovtrdght of the superintendent 
seems to be the only way to prevent small patches 
of disease being missed in going round. It is much 
better to take a longer time iu going round the estate 
and have the work thoroughly done than to cover large 
areas and overlook some canker. 
The number of trees a cooly can examine and 
cut in a day depends, of course, on the amount of 
disease, but it is preferable to spend a day in finish- 
ing fifty trees than to run over an acre, and on 
the next round it will be found that much less 
work has to be done. On several estates, where 
the gang consisted of from fifty to a hundred coolies, 
the number is now reduced to ten to twenty. It 
must be remembered that the time when the spores 
grow is during wet weather, and not until some 
weeks later can the place be detected and cut ont. 
The mistake is common of talking of an "outbreak" 
of disease, when the evil has arisen, i.e., the spores 
grown, some time before. The smallness of the 
acreage of cacao in Ceylon, the chances of success 
owing to the nature of the disease, and the amount 
of the prcfiit on healthy cacao in good bearing, 
make this disease one which should be reduced or 
even expelled with exceptional ease. Half measures, 
and these adopted only on a portion of estates, 
are sure to be disappointing. 
Perhaps I may hope that this Circular will induce 
many, if not all, to take their part in the crusade 
against the cacao canker. 
J. B. CARRUTHERS, 
Government Mycologist and 
Assistant Director, Royal Botanic Gardens. 
Peradeniya, September 19, 1901. 
« . 
CURIOUS BEHAVIOUR OF A FLIGHT 
OF WAGTAILS. 
I send you an extract from a letter received by 
me the other day from a planter friend at Balur, 
Mysore, which I think will be of interiist to some of 
your readers. 
The wagtails, which is a migratory bird, as every 
body knows, comes down south with, or just before, 
snipe, and a flight of them must have been passing 
over Balur when the rain stopped them, 
" A very funny thing occurred here the other 
night. I was reading in the sitting-room at about 
9 p.m., and it was raining heavily outside, when a 
water wagtail flew into the room, and after a 
little while I found there were four of tbem. I 
did not take much notice of them until one flew 
on to the lamp and put it out, and then I thought 
it was high time to go to bed. So I went into 
my bed-room, and to my surprise found it was full 
of these birds. They had come in evidently to 
take shelter from the rain. They seemed quite 
tame, and several of them sat on my shoulder 
and on my hands. However, I did not want them 
flying about my room all night, so I caught them 
one by one and set them free in the drawing-room. 
In the morning two were found dead, evidently kiiled 
by the dogs, but the rest had all gone ! " 
C. V. Ryan. 
Ootacamund, 12th October, 1901. 
— Indian Forester. 
" Lobelias "—are common enough in and 
around Nuwara Bliya : can anything be 
done to utilise them in view of this report 
in Chemist and Druggist of Jan. 4th: — 
Lobelia.— Herb is very scarce in New York, 5d 
per lb, c.i.f., being quoted. 
