REPORT OF THE SOCIETY 79 



Dominion Department promulgated a special Act to prevent the introduc- 

 tion or spreading of Insects, Pests, and Diseases destructive to vegetation, 

 assented to May 4th, 1910 (9-10 Edwilrd VI Chap. 31), and known by the 

 short title of "The Destructive Insect and Pest Act." 



This important Act serves as a most efficient safeguard against in- 

 vasion by diseases from abroad. It was soon followed (August 20th, 1912) 

 by a similar official bill of Congress in the United States of America; so that 

 the protection of the whole continent of America from such dangers is now 

 fairly assured. The importance of such measures was soon recognized by the 

 various provinces of the Dominion ; and provincial Acts serving the purposes 

 of more individual needs were promulgated by the Provincial Houses. 



For some time the plant pathological experts acted principally in an 

 advisory capacity. But soon studies of specially destructive diseases were 

 begun, and publications were issued giving directions as to the control and 

 prevention of plajit diseases. 



At the same time it was realized that one central laboratory hardly 

 sufficed to accommodate the requirements of special cultures and their 

 peculiar problems. Thus, when an important peach trouble in the Niagara 

 Peninsula appeared, and Ottawa conditions were found unsuitable for the 

 purposes of investigation, it was suggested to carry on the research work 

 in the locality where the disease appeared. The Department of Agriculture 

 then authorized the establishment of the first Dominion Field Laboratory 

 of Plant Pathology — a daughter laboratory of the Central Station— at 

 St. Catharines, Ontario, right in the centre of Canada's most important 

 fruit-growing section. 



Meanwhile the stafT and appropriation increased pari passu with the 

 the work and necessity for researches. 



By every possible means the work of the plant pathologists was brought 

 before the public; and, by lectures, publications, and very useful and in- 

 structive coloured posters figuring certain important diseases, the general 

 public became more and more aware of the nature, work, and aims of this 

 new division. 



The correspondence with farmers and fruit-growers increased appre- 

 ciably, and the experts became more and more familiar with the important 

 problems demanding special attention. Soon another disease of foreign 

 origin attracted considerable attention, the now notorious powdery scab. 

 This diseasewas recorded, again for the first time on the continent of America, 

 by the Dominion's plant disease experts. 



