146 Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. 
cation of some worthless or otherwise noxious weed would at 
the same time dispose of the rust fungus, what a step of pro- 
gress would be made! It cannot be said, from what we now 
know, that this is probable, but it certainly is possible, and not 
this only. In such cases no estimates can be ventured as to the 
value, measured in dollars and cents, of the smallest contribu- 
tion to positive knowledge. Years of patient and able research 
may pass without reward, or. a day’s labor may beneficially 
affect the world. The field is very large and the soil very rich; 
but the cultivators have little more than begun their labors, 
and those competent for the task are still few. No great pecu- 
niary inducements urge them forward. There are no patents 
to be had on discoveries they may make. The products of their 
labors, however rich, are not to be appropriated by themselves, 
but the gathered harvests must equally be divided among all 
men. Science may be enthusiastically pursued for its own 
sake, and mankind owe much to labors thus pursued; but it 
is certainly proper that the State should provide the means of 
equipment and livelihood for those able and willing to devote 
their energies to such investigations and experiments. 
Illinois is one of the few States of the Union which have 
provided by legislative action for an officer whose duty it is to 
investigate and report upon insect depredations, and is alone in 
the establishment of a,well equipped and well appointed labor- 
atory of natural history, while the maintenance of the State 
University, with its departments of science and practical art, 
shows the high official appreciation of studies and investiga- 
tions of this kind, and the intelligent views of those shaping 
and directing the affairs of the State pertaining to our natural 
resources and the value of natural science. The beginning 
thus made gives much hope for the future. It isnot hazardous 
to predict increased interest as the work goes on, not only on 
the part of those conducting the investigations, but among the 
peuple at large, many of whom care little or nothing for the 
methods and processes by which results are reached, but quickly 
appreciate the practical value of the results themselves when 
wrought out. 
Nothing has so far been done by the United States’ autho- 
rities for the study of the diseases of plants, though recently 
