THE LOCAL PLANT DOCTOR. 29 



to his sympathy or philanthropic nature. It is only as popula- 

 tion increases, and the thoughtless waste of his lands becomes 

 appallingly evident in the rapidly disappearing lumber supply, 

 depleted soils, and reduced crop production, that diseases in 

 plants begin to demand his careful consideration. It is the eco- 

 nomic features of the case alone that appeal to the plant producing 

 public. Occasionally there appears a man who would save the 

 plant for the plant's sake. This is the rare exception. With 

 most of us it is a question of whether it will pay or not. As I see 

 it, then, the very recent rise and development of Plant Pathology 

 as a science and profession is but a logical sequence in the world's 

 economic evolution. All the lands of the earth are discovered and 

 possessed. There are no more great tracts of virgin forest to yield 

 us unlimited timber supplies, and no great unplowed continents 

 to grow the grain for teeming millions soon to be born. Conserva- 

 tion is the war cry of the world's economists. We shall nurture 

 and develop the science of Plant Pathology, we shall train and 

 send forth a great army of practical Plant Pathologists and trained 

 experts, solely for economic reasons; simply because it will pay. 



But Will It Pay? 



Some of you, most of you, in fact, may doubt whether the devel- 

 opment of a great number of professional plant pathologists is 

 actually warranted by the economic losses from plant diseases 

 at the present time. Are the annual losses to our crops sufficient 

 to maintain a corps of such high-priced servants and still pay a 

 good profit on the investment? A glance at some of the well 

 established facts as regards losses from plant diseases and insect 

 pests will, I think, serve to convince us on this point. Under the 

 direction of Mr. F. C. Stewart, of the N. Y. State Experiment 

 Station, extensive experiments have been conducted by a consider- 

 able number of potato growers in the State of New York, during 

 the past seven years. These experiments have shown that the 

 potato growers of that state are losing annually an average of 50 

 bushels to the acre. This loss may be saved by spraying which they 

 themselves can do at a cost not to exceed $5.00 per acre. Experi- 



