421 
Wound-fungi. — Many trees were lost through wound- 
fungi which obtained an ‘entrance through a wound made 
where a branch was broken or cut off, or where a wounc 
’.as been made in some other way. Most planters now 
recognise the danger of bare wounds and cover such with 
tar but the practice is unfortunately far from universal. 
Sou, Acidity . 1 — Mauv complaints of diseased plants 
v-cio found to be due to excessive acidity m the soil. 1 his 
;„rce of trouble is fairly common on the humus-rich peaty 
, ils of the Coast districts, t referred to it in my 1. U 
! >ort ( toffee suffers also. Good drainage and the appl i- 
. dion of lime usually neutralises the soil sufficiently Lx- 
•riments to reduce this acidity by means of Christmas 
1 hand phosphates are being carried on; pending the results 
f these, I recommend the application of lime to such soils. 
Coffee seems to be even more susceptible to soil acidity 
than rubber. Coconuts appear to be little affected. Both 
i hese crops have been pt)t in on soil found to be ‘too peaty 
too acid— for rubber, but coffee has not been a suc- 
f0hS Fungi have been found on numerous native products 
but in no considerable degree. Bice and coconuts are par- 
ticularly free from fungal disease. . . . 
Tomatoes are attacked by three distinct fungi. Cue 
attacking the stem and leaves ; the other two live on stems 
leaves and fruits. As tomatoes are usually grown m small 
quantities and the property of Europeans, the best tiling is 
to burn out the crop completely. 
In the “Agricultural Bulletin” tor January, 1908, L 
published a paper entitled “Plant Life and Disease,” in- 
tended to give a general view of plant hygiene, an idea ot 
the inter-relations of a parasite and its vegetable host, and 
of the behaviour of a plant to its environment. 
Most planters are fairly quick to report disease, and 
some bints to enable them to send useful specimens, and to 
describe the appearances the unhealthy plant presents, ha\ e 
been published in the “Agricultural Bulletin” in the past 
year. . ,, , , 
Manurial Experiments. — Queries occasionally reached 
the department regarding the application of manure to 
rubber trees. The soil concerned had generally been worn 
out by coffee or tapioca, and frequently bad suffered much 
from* wash. To gain some information on this point, 1 
began early in the year experiments on two estates with 
artificial measures. Results have been accumulated but 
thev are not complete enough yet for publication. 
