The Agricultural Ledger 1901 (Crop Disease and Pest Series No. 6)

3. External Manifestations of the Presence of Fungi — I then examined the epidermis of the green portion of the stem of the leaf sheaths and of the leaves themselves to see if there were any indications of a parasitic fungus. [...] 932 of the 27th March I informed the Director of the Dpartment of Land Records and Agriculture of the above action I called for further material and asked that attention might be directed to discover whether the disease invariably proceeded from the buds contained within the leaf sheaths. [...] S. Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens I learn that he also has arrived at the opinion that destruction by fire is the only likely method of coping with the disease until such time as we have learned the life-history of the organism that is concerned in the death of the palms. [...] Moreover the cultivators invariably pointed to the lowness of the water in their tanks as an indication of the untowardness of the year. [...] open the stems of many specimens to s2e the buds but found these in no instance of the size and in the condition already recorded in connection with the sample examined on the zoth March.