247 
slowly and only in contact with roots ; isolation is, therefore, un- 
necessary, and so also is liming, providing that the diseased roots 
are removed and the wood from the affected area taken up and the 
area dug over An examination of the laterals of trees which are 
adjacent to the dead tree should be carried out, and such as are 
diseased should be amputated to a point where they are healthy. 
' .i„„ STE “ Dl ?f A *f? ■rj hridari ? tarda ' Bancroft, of which the Diplodia 
if e g H e T USeSthe , d !f" b ^ k ” dlsease > has been investigated and the 
iife-history completed The fungus, which is common as a saprophyte 
on dead material, can infect the plant at wounds. Investigations have 
, S , „ n „ h , a the fangus can be transferred from cacao to Hevea and that 
the Diplodia condition of the fungi on cacao and Hevea are indentical 
This, coupled with the work of other authors, shows that the fungus 
.s wicfcly distributed through the cacao and rubber-producing countries 
e Tropics. The fact that the fungus only infects at a wound 
which involves the exposure of the wood, and, therefore, not a good 
tapping surface, coupled with the fact that its effect on the plant 
depends largely on the condition of health of the plant, classes it as an 
ordinary wound parasite. 
p"* 1 - dls . ease bas been reported from all the Federated States of 
the Peninsula. There is, however, a great tendency to attribute far 
more effects to the fungus than are in reality initiated by it, and the 
reckless removal of branches, which are shedding their leaves from 
some physiological cause, must be guarded against. 
f he work, which furnishes an account of the life-history of the 
fU1 w- U t’ * heapre , ad ofthe disease audits method of treatment, will be 
published shortly in Bulletin IX ofthe Department of Agriculture. 
Corticium jmanicum, Zimmermann, the “pink” fungus has been 
Imoun e t df D mtW ° d ,i S r CtS ’ where i( was - however, present in small 
amount. It is a well-known parasite of Hevea, tea and other plants 
fnrl d ‘v, anclm S ey0n ' The dlsease originates most usually at the 
™T’ be ‘' c the fangus produces a pink patch which extends to the 
sides of the trunk below and to the branches above the fork It is 
easily identified by means of the colour. The.removal of the fungus 
with adhering bark when it is young and the sealing of the wound has 
been recommended. Such branches as are ringed by the fungus must 
be amputated, and when young trees are affected they must be cut off 
below the affected part. These are direct methods of treatment. In 
places where the disease occurs repeatedly it is proposed to spray in 
the fork with Bordeaux mixture as a preventative; a Vermorel’s 
cascade sprayer is being obtained for the Department and arrange- 
ments are being made to have these sprayers stocked in this country. 
1 here has been up to the present, however, no necessity to put such a 
method of treatment into force. 
rw he “ th / ead blight ” fungus has been re P<>ried on one estate. 
1 he fungus has not yet been indentified owing to the absence of spore- 
bearing organs; to judge from analogy, 'however, it may be expected 
