249 
of coffee the fact that wild Liberian coffee is unattacked 
by Hemileia vastatnx had evidently been lost sight of. It 
is only reasonable to expect that with the continued cultivation of 
the plant the amount of the disease will increase. On the other 
hand, it .mm be borne in mind that the epidemic in Ceylon will in all 
probability never be repeated in another coffee-producing country. 
The conditions of cultivation in Ceylon were especially favourable to 
the spread of an epidemic, and the disease had probably been gather- 
mg force for several years before it was noticed. Again, it is 
doubtful as to whether Hemileia vastatiix was responsible for all of 
the damage to the industry, since the plant is known to be susceptible 
to more than one root fungus in Ceylon. The disease occurs in 
districts in this country where Liberian coffee is cultivated, but it 
appears to produce little or no appreciable effect on the yield of fruit. 
The propagation of the disease by uredospores lends itself readily 
to treatment by spraying with a fungicide. A preliminary experi- 
ment was carried out on 15th October for the purpose of determining 
whether the 4-4-50 formula of Bordeaux mixture would be injurious 
to the younger leaves of the plant. This mixture was prepared by 
the approved method from 4 lbs. quicklime, 4 lbs. copper sulphate 
and 50 gallons water, and was sprayed on to 100 plants of robusta 
coffee, a Vermorel’s “Eclair” sprayer being used, and examination 
at the end of four weeks showed that the application of the mixture 
had in no way injured even the youngest leaves. 
The experiment was sufficient to demonstrate that this strength 
of mixture, which is the strength recommended by the Board of 
Agriculture of England, could be applied without injury to the plant 
Robusta coffee is cultivated in this country principally as a catch- 
crop with rubber to be removed when the rubber comes into bearing, 
and there is at present a tendency to do away with the cultivation of 
catch-crops in rubber, so that a spraying method of this kind, which 
to be successful must be carried out on a large scale, would scarcely 
recommend itself to the planter. 
homes semitostus has been found to attack robusta coffee both in 
the field and by artificial infection. 
Hymenochaete noxia has been found to attack robusta coffee, 
DISEASES OF TAPIOCA. 
Fames semitostus readily attacks tapioca. 
Cercospora Cearae, Petch., has been found to cause spots on the 
leaves, the spots being particularly abundant on a patch of tapioca in 
in the Experimental Gardens at Batu Tiga. 
DISEASES OF CAMPHOR. 
Fomes semitostus and Hymenochaete noxia attack the roots of 
camphor ( Cinnamomum Carnphora). 
