Notes. 303 



The Agricultural Pests Act. 



There is published elsewliere in this issue of the Journul the 

 second instalment to the series of principal Acts and Kej^'ulations 

 administered by the Department, a resume of each of Avhich it is 

 proposed to publish in the Jounial. Last month the Diseases of Stock 

 Act, that enters so largely into the life of most farmers, was dealt 

 with. Its object is to prevent disease among live stock. The present 

 instalment deals with the Act (and its regulations) designed to prevent 

 the introduction and spread of insect pests, plant diseases and bee 

 diseases, and to regulate the importation of exotic animals. Both 

 Acts were among the first legislative measures passed by the Union 

 Government, and conjointly they rank high among those that ensure 

 the best interests of pastoralists and agriculturists in South Africa. 

 It is the experience of other countries that much of the hardship far- 

 mers have to contend with in the form of insect pests and plant 

 diseases could have been avoided or minimized by a rigorous policy 

 of inspection of plants, etc., prior to introduction. In earlier days 

 this was perhaps not always possible, but to-day the policy is to take 

 every precaution in this direction. In South Africa most of the 

 troublesome insect i)ests and plant diseases that infest gardens and 

 orchards were introduced with plants from oversea. Other pests are 

 liable to be introduced notwithstanding every precaution. The Agri- 

 cultural Pests Act of 1911 is, however, a great safeguard, and the 

 public should not fail to comply with its requirements, since they are 

 designed to protect the interests of the community geuerally. It must 

 always be remembered that oversea traffic in plants, is controlled by 

 conditional permits issued by the Division of Entomology, Pretoria. 

 Requests for any further information in regard to the requirements 

 of the Act should be made to tliis Division. 



Experiments in the Control of Codling-moth: A New 

 Bulletin. 



Experiments in the control of codling-moth have l)een in progress 

 for several years at the Elsenburg vSchool of Agriculture and Experi- 

 ment Station, and mu(di valuable information has resulted. These 

 experiments and the findings up to the present are fully recoided and 

 discussed by Dr. Pettey in Science Bulletin No. 26, " Experiments 

 in the Control of Codling-moth," which is now in the hands of the 

 Government Printers and may be obtained on application to this 

 office. A summary of this bulletin has been prepared by Dr. Pettey 

 and is published in the present issue of the Journal. It contains the 

 latest advice on the sul/ject and will prove of undoubted value to 

 fruit u'rowers. 



Union Representatives in Finland. 



On the advice of the Commissioner for Commerce on the Con- 

 tinent of Europe, who has represented that there are market possi- 

 bilities in Finland for the Union's raw pi'oducts, the Government has 

 a])pointed Messrs. Piehl and Fehling, of Helsiugfors, to act in that 

 country as Honorary Trade Commissioners for the Union. 



