36 president's address. 



In New South Wales, like "Victoria, it was the advent of 

 Phylloxera that started legislation against fruit-pests; and, 

 in 1886, the Vine Diseases Act was passed, followed, in 1888, 

 by the "Vine Diseases Act, Amendment Act." In June, 

 1893, there came into force "An Act relating to Vine 

 Diseases, to prevent the introduction into this Colony, or 

 removal from place to place in this Colony, of diseasesd grape- 

 vines, and to eradicate a certain disease affecting grapes, 

 grape-vines or vineyards, to proclaim Vine Districts ; to 

 appoint Boards ; to make assessments and levy rates ; and for 

 other purposes incidental thereto. Three vine-districts were 

 created, The Cumberland, The Murray River, and The Hunter 

 River Vine District. 



In 1897, the New South Wales Government brought an 

 Act into force, entitled "An Act for the better prevention of 

 the spread of diseases, and for the destruction of insects, 

 fungi, and other pests injuriously affecting any kind of 

 vegetation, and to prevent the introduction of those diseases 

 and insects into the Colony, 10th December, 1897." This 

 Act was framed, not only to act as a check on the importation 

 of pests from abroad, but to deal with them in the orchards 

 of the Colony; but it was so amended, on passing the House, 

 that it resolved itself into simply a Port Act, and the inspec- 

 tion of all fruit coming into New South Wales. 



The next Act, on very similar lines, was the "Vine and 

 Vegetation Diseases Act, 1901," which consolidated the Vine 

 Diseases Act and the Vegetation Diseases Act of 1907, but 

 did not give any power to the officers of the Department of 

 Agriculture to enter any orchard without the invitation of 

 the occupier. 



Through the ravages of the Mediterranean and Queens- 

 land fruit-flies, and the constant friction with the other 

 States (1904-6), where inspection of orchards was enforced 

 in a more or less efficient manner, the Government, after con- 

 siderable opposition, in which the list of pests to be dealt 

 with was reduced to two, passed the "Vine and Vegetation 



