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IRISH GARDENING. 



"IRISH GARDENING/' 



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American Gooseberry 

 Mildew in Ireland. 



By GEO. H, PETHYBRIDGE, Ph.D., B.Sc. 



TWELVE months ago — see Irish Gar- 

 dening for April, 1907, p. 68 — an article 

 dealing with this fungoid pest was pub- 

 lished, and a map given showing its distribution 

 in Ireland as known up to that date. It was 

 stated that the mildew had been reported in 

 ninety-eight localities, distributed over nineteen 

 of the thirty-two Irish counties. The present 

 time is a convenient one for once more ascer- 

 taining the prevalence of this disease, and thus 

 for gaining some insight into the rapidity of its 

 spread. For the records, as in the previous 

 year, I am mainly indebted to the Department 

 of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for 

 Ireland, which has devoted increased attention 

 to the matter during the past year. The 

 number of recorded cases of the disease has 

 practically doubled during the year, standing as 

 it does now at about one hundred and ninety-six, 

 as compared with the previous year's ninety- 

 eight. The number of counties in which infected 

 localities now occur has increased by three — 

 namely, to twenty-two. It must not be sup- 

 posed, however, that the whole of this increase 

 of ninety-eight cases represents the actual spread 

 of the disease. The actual number of new 

 cases, in which an attack was unknown before 

 1907, is fifty-seven. The attacks in the remain- 

 ing forty-one cases began previously to 1907, 

 but they were not included in last year's list 

 owing to the reports not having come in early 

 enough to be included. Very probably there 

 may still be a few more cases than the one 

 hundred and ninety-six at present recorded, 

 but owing to the increased vigilance which has 

 been exerted this number is likely to be a small 

 one. As would be expected, the largest in- 

 creases in cases have been in counties in which 

 the disease was most prevalent before. Thus 

 Co. Down still leads the way with an increase 

 from nineteen to fifty-seven cases. Antrim has 



increased from twelve to twenty-five, Waterford 

 from nine to twenty-two. The counties with a 

 large number of cases coming next are Tyrone 

 and King's Co. with twelve each, Londonderry 

 and Meath with ten each. No cases have as 

 yet been reported from Carlow, Cork, Donegal, 

 Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, 

 Monaghan, and Sligo. As some of these 

 counties have, however, no instructor in horti- 

 culture from whom reports would in the ordinary 

 course be received, it is possible that the disease 

 exists unrecorded in one or more of them. 



It is sufficiently evident that the disease is 

 making rapid headway in Ireland, and that 

 vigorous steps must be taken if its further pro- 

 gress is to be at all prevented. Where it came 

 from in the first place is not definitely known, 

 probably America, but whether directly or via 

 England or elsewhere cannot be ascertained for 

 certain, although at least one rather recent case 

 in the South of Ireland can be traced almost 

 with certainty to infected bushes from an 

 English source. 



The practical question, however, is not how 

 the disease came here, but how it can now be 

 stamped out ; and not one whit too soon has 

 come the order of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture and Technical Instruction for Ireland 

 dealing with this mildew and with the black 

 currant mite, which was issued on the 24th of 

 February last, and came into operation on the 

 following day. 



This Order is issued under the Destructive 

 Insects and Pests Acts, 1877 and 1907 (see Irish 

 Gardening, August, 1907, p. 144), and is too 

 long to be quoted in extenso here ; but all who 

 have gardens containing gooseberries and black 

 currants (and what garden has not at least a 

 few ?) should obtain a copy of it by writing to 

 the Secretary of the Department, and should 

 make a careful study of it. 



Fundamentally the Order does two things. 

 First, it prohibits the importation (after April 

 30th, 1908) into Ireland of any gooseberry or 

 black currant bushes, except for certain special 

 purposes, and then only by licence. By this 

 means further introduction of diseased bushes 

 from England or abroad will be rendered im- 

 possible. Secondly, the Order compels notifi- 

 cation of the disease by the owner or occupier 

 of premises or land where it exists, or is sus- 

 pected of being present ; and further, the Order 

 indicates the compulsory measures which will 

 have to be taken by the owner or occupier for 

 the prevention o'i the spread of the disease and 

 for its extinction. Failure to comply with the 

 terms of the Order carries with it liability, on 

 conviction, to a penalty not exceeding Ten 

 Pounds (^10) for each offence, and in this con- 

 nection it may be noted that already in one case 

 the maximum penalty has been inflicted in 



