XIV. 1 Reinking: Coconut Bud Rot in the Philippines 133 
rot with the aim of determining the causal organism. Until the 
present investigations were started, no accurate and definite 
study was made of the organism which causes the coconut bud 
rot in the Philippines. The report as here presented is only a 
preliminary one; a complete work on the bacterial and fungus 
phases will be prepared at a later date. Preliminary tests indi- 
cated that the disease might be due entirely to bacteria ; but more 
extensive studies proved that bacteria could not account for the 
severity of the disease observed under field conditions. On 
March 11, 1919, from a diseased tree kindly sent in by the 
Bureau of Agriculture, a fungus was isolated which was proved 
to produce disease in all seedlings inoculated. This work, taken 
in connection with inoculation studies with Phytophthora fdberi 
Maubl. isolated from cacao pods, appears to the writer to furnish 
conclusive evidence that the primary agent in the production 
of the infection is a fungus; and that bacteria, while always 
associated with severe cases of the disease, are to be regarded 
as secondary agents. 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE DISEASE 
In the Philippines, according to the Bureau of Agriculture 
reports for 1916 by Mackie, (8) the disease was found in Laguna, 
Tayabas, Batangas, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Albay, and Ambos Ca- 
marines Provinces ; and it was reported as occurring in Misamis, 
Capiz, Samar, and Bohol. The report of the Bureau of Agri- 
culture for the year 1917-18, submitted by Mr. G. Merino, 
states that the disease is also prevalent in Zamboanga. The 
infection is most severe and widespread in those sections of the 
Islands in which the climatic conditions afford a very moist at- 
mosphere. Thus coconut bud rot is very abundant in the upper 
belt of the coconut country about Mount Banahao. The studies 
made by the writer were concerned principally with this section. 
An extensive discussion of the rot as it occurs in other parts 
of the world has been given by Copeland(6) and by Johnston. (7) 
NATURE OF THE DISEASE 
General diagnosis. — The first symptom is a withering of the 
youngest unfolded leaf, followed by the leaf turning brown. 
Gradually the next younger leaves wither and turn brown, until 
the entire central group is affected. At this stage the central 
leaves may be easily pulled out. Frequently, in advanced cases, 
they fall over (Plate I, figs. 1, 2, and 3). About this diseased 
central portion is a fringe of older leaves, which are perfectly 
healthy and remain upon the tree for months after infection. 
