Flood fallow and silting \Irere the only practices that consistently reduced incidence of banana wilt incluced by F. o.vyspoi.~r~rz f. cubem-e ( E . F. S.) Snpd. ancl I-Ians. The efhciency of flood fallow was greatly increased by interflood plo\ving, and in most locations by postflood fungicide drenches. Even these treatments, however, did not insure economic control in some areas. I t was necessary, therefore, to select areas where soil factors terldetl to retard rapid disease development. Also, the absence of the banana host for a number of years previous to flood fallow appeared to influence treatment success.'Manuscript

No abstract

No abstract

For many years investigators have reported various treatments which were effective in increasing the life or preserving the color and appearance of cut flowers. These treatments have usually consisted in the addition of one or more chemicals to the water in which the flower stems were placed. Farrington (2), Fourton and Ducomet (3), Grinstead (4), and Laurie (7) reported chemical treatments that were favorable in prolonging the life of cut flowers. Knudson (6), however, in studying the effect of chemicals on flowers of relatively short duration of life, was unable to substantiate the results of the French workers. Hitchcock and Zimmerman (5) found no marked beneficial results from the use of fifty different chemical treatments many of which have been favorably reported on by other investigators. These authors as well as Perret (8) have shown, however, that low temperature and relatively high humidity are effective in prolonging the life of cut flowers.So far as the writer was able to determine from the available literature no attempt has been made to prolong the life of cut flowers by altering the composition of the atmosphere about them. Investigating carbon dioxid storage of fruits, West (9) found that the life of apples was increased by one-third to one-half when held in 12-15 percent carbon dioxid. Brooks, Cooley, and Fisher (I) found that 100 percent carbon dioxid for six days produced a very decided inhibition of the activities of the apple so that in storage it developed color more slowly than the untreated apple.In some recent experiments the writer found that in carbon dioxid storage, fruits, vegetables, and flowers were affected in various ways, depending upon the concentration of gas, the temperature, and the variety of fruit, vegetable, or flower. Preliminary tests with flowers indicated that, in the case of the rose, carbon dioxid retarded bud opening and prolonged the life of the flower. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of experiments dealing with the effect of carbon dioxid on cut flowers, principally roses. Other gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, etc. have not yet been studied. A preliminary test with oxygen indicated that this gas hastened the maturing processes in rose flowers.

No abstract

Insects and diseases caused by fungi and bacteria bring about widespread losses in banana culture by reducing production, depreciating market value of the fruit, and even destroying the industry. Thousands of tons of fungicides and hundreds of tons of insecticides are required yearly to control banana pests. New pesticides, better formulations, and improvement of existing pesticides are needed. Specific banana pests and the possibility of their control are discussed.Intensive culture of bananas, as with many other crops, is beset with many problems.Even in isolated plantings, pests of one kind or another reduce the potential crop or even destroy it entirely. In the majority of cases pest control has been confined to large acreages in more intensified banana culture. Many factors have contributed to retarding the use of pest control, such as weather and ground conditions that prevent the use of portable equipment without expensive road systems, small plantations, lack of finances, indifference on the part of grower, and no local demand for quality fruit.Bananas are grown in every tropical country and some subtropical areas throughout the world. The total acreage involved is considerable when all plantings, from 1 acre upward, are taken into consideration. Pest control is largely confined to the Caribbean area, Central and South America, Australia, and to some extent the Cameroons, Liberia, and Israel. Other areas in most cases grow bananas for local consumption, where strict demand for economic production and quality fruit is not recognized. Banana pests have developed with the crop in the old world and spread with it to new lands. Root and leaf diseases and insect pests first observed in the Indian Ocean countries and the Pacific Islands spread to the Caribbean area and then to the Cameroons.As is true in most cases of pest dissemination, man has been the culprit, though innocent in his ignorance. These pests were readily spread in his eagerness to develop plantations of the new fruit for foreign markets early in the twentieth century. The important pests may be separated into plant diseases and insects.Also there are other minor pest problems resulting from local cultural or environmental conditions. Grass and weed growth in banana plantations and railroad rights of way, weeds and bush in livestock pastures, ticks, flies, mosquitoes, termites, powder post beetles, weevils, leaf-cutting ants, and rodents are probably the most important of the minor pests. Table I lists the diseases of the banana by common name, scientific name, and parts of the plant attacked. The diseases are discussed under their common and most recognized name in the industry. Panama wilt, first observed in 1890, developed to epidemic proportions in Panama in 1903. Diseases of Banana Plants and FruitToday it is widespread in most all banana-producing areas where the susceptible varieties of commerce are grown. In fact, it is the limiting factor in the commercial production of bananas in Central America. In Honduras alone approximately 4000 acr...