260 THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



But while specimens of the "breed" may still be found in 

 the profession of farming, as in all other professions, the 

 "large and flourishing families" of them seem hardly to have 

 survived a generation, and one may well doubt if the lan- 

 guage used was not altogether too severe, considering the 

 state of the art of agriculture at the time the criticism was 

 uttered. However, such writers did good work in combat- 

 ing the old order of things and in hastening the dawn of a 

 new and better practice. 



The Nineteenth Century was entering upon its last quarter 

 when Professor Burrill of the University of Illinois, a pioneer 

 in the field of plant pathology and therapeutics, began the 

 publication of his views of the cause and cure of plant diseases, 

 showing the relation existing between various organisms and 

 "leaf blight," "rust" and other maladies. The importance 

 of combating the pests of the field became more and more 

 generally recognized. In many localities the undertaking 

 assumed the proportions of serious business. The efficacy 

 of paris green as an insecticide was discovered, and this sub- 

 stance long remained as the representative of its class. The 

 method of applying it was by hand utensils slow, laborious, 

 costly, and in every way unsatisfactory. For all sucking in- 

 sects a simple emulsion of soapsuds and kerosene was found 

 to be a helpful remedy, and this preparation has been largely 

 used. In the meantime, grape growing in France had been 

 brought to a crisis by the ravages of diseases which threatened 

 the very existence of the industry. In the darkest hour, how- 

 ever, an accident revealed a remedy. 



For the purpose of saving from the depredation of pilferers 

 some grapes which grew by the wayside, they were sprinkled 

 with a solution of bluestone (sulphate of copper) and lime, 





