The Die-back Disease of Cacoa trees and the „Brown rot” of Cacoa Fruits, caused by Diplodia cacaoicola

The dying off of cacoa trees-not as a result of old age, but in plantations which are still fairly young, often by groups and sometimes in such large numbers, that whole fields had to be written down-has repeatedly been observed in Surinam. It is only in the last few years, however, that more attention has been paid to this dying off, and that it has become a subject of study. In this way it was found that this dying off was not always due to the same disease, but that it had to be attributed to the attack of different parasites. For instance the „canker” which sometimes occurred in a destructive manner, was caused by a Spicaria'); the so-called „leaf disease”, which has also caused much damage from time to time, was recognized as due to T h r i p s.2) In the vast majority of cases, however, another disease was concerned, which has of late years received the name of „die-back disease”, and which, after a preliminary investigation, was found to be caused by Chaetodiplodia. ')