REPORT OF THE SOCIETY ^ 27 



When I came to Cornell University one could buy stock in plant pathology 

 for almost nothing. To illustrate, on one occasion I had to address a company 

 of farmers on a pathological subject, along with a leader of the Farmers' Insti- 

 tute, and I got from him scant encouragement. I took for my subject "Fire 

 Blight", and as I was young and enthusiastic, I carried with me considerable 

 impedimenta, such as a lantern, slides, and a microscope. AVhen I timidlj^ 

 suggested to the leader that I should have a place where I could exhibit my 

 wares, I was told that the farmers would not understand me. (This was in 

 1903 when I was assistant in botany.) However, I secured a table where I 

 set up ni}' microscope and I was very much encouraged to find that the farmers 

 did respond to the things in which I was interested. 



I desire now to give you some notion of how plant pathology has "sold" 

 itself in the State of New York. In 1906, when I was made assistant professor 

 and head of the department, I had one assistant, a stenographer and $300 for all 

 overhead expenses. At that time all field work and travel done by the depart- 

 ments at Cornell was paid for from appropriations given by the state or federal 

 government. It always hurt when I had to spend money out of my grant to go 

 and visit a sick geranium. I could not keep within the allotted appropriation 

 and do all the work there was to be done. Gradually my work developed and 

 was carried into the fields and orchards. I simply had to have more money to 

 meet the demands for research and extension work. Then I got a little encour- 

 agement from mj' director. I suggested that the growers be asked to paj'' expen- 

 ses for requested visits to inspect their fields and orchards. He was always 

 lenient with m}' wild ideas and gave his consent for me to try this. The res- 

 ponse from the growers was prompt and encouraging. 



In 1909 we became interested in lime sulphur as a summer spray. We had 

 in the department a j'oung man from Nova Scotia who was interested in apple 

 scab. Wallace became interested in lime sulphur and did some preliminary 

 experiments in orchards near Ithaca. I had no money to keep him and I saw 

 that we were going to lose him. A manufacturer of lime sulphur finally offered 

 money for continuing the work. After considerable effort I managed to put 

 this proposition through. I suggested that as it was an economic problem, we 

 should ask those who benefited to bear a portion of the expense. I went to my 

 director and he said he thought it was a good scheme, but it was radical, and he 

 asked me if I did not think I would get into trouble. However, he laid it before 

 the Board of Trustees and I got my first Industrial Fellowship. A field labor- 

 tory was established — a laboratory in a grower's orchard. The ^' rower furn- 

 ished trees to work upon. If we destroyed a lot of apples, the grower could 

 not claim compensation from the university. In other words the grower was 

 willing to back our investigation. The Industrial Fellowship policy was 

 established. 



