20 



of disease-causing fungi and insects miglit lead to disastrous results. 

 Tlie introduction of the new corn mildew from Java migbt prove a curse 

 to our cultivators. The banana disease of the Fiji Islands might pos- 

 sibly take the profits off banana growing in Porto Eico, while the three 

 new insect and fungous diseases of the coSee plant that have lately 

 been described from Guatemala, Keunion, and the Philipiuues should, 

 by all means, be kept out of our new coffee-growing regions. Importa- 

 tions of plants from these regions could only be secured with safety 

 under supervision of a trained plant pathologist equix)ped with proper 

 apparatus for examination of all plants imported. 



It must be realized that the specialization of our agriculture has 

 already reached such a stage, resulting in such a host of plant varie- 

 ties, that a knowledge of these various kinds suQiciently exact to be of 

 great assistance in the selection of foreign varieties can not be acciuired 

 by a hasty study of any particular branch of plant industry. If plant 

 introduction is to assist such highly developed industries, it will be by 

 Bending out experts to whom long experience has pointed out definite 

 problems to be solved by the discovery of a variety superior to those 

 already cultivated^ or one possessing qualities which make it valuable 

 for breeding i)urx30ses. 



rXSPECTIOX AND DISINTECIIOX OF PLAXTS IXTRODrCED. 



Tiie danger of inadvertently introducing nev\' weeds, noxious insects, 

 or dangerous parasitic fungi is one which should not be underestimated. 

 This danger, however, can only be reduced to a minimum by narrowing 

 the avenues of plant inti^oduction and subjecting every imx)ortation to 

 careful inspection and disinfection. 



Although it is not necessary to alarm plant cultivators in the matter, 

 piarticularly with reference to carefidJy conducted Government importa- 

 tions, it may not be unx)rofitable to refer to a few objectionable intro- 

 ductions as evidence of what imi^ortations carried on without x)roper 

 inspection have brought with them. 



The introduction of the San Jose scale is too recent to require more 

 than a passing notice. It was introduced as late as 1S70. i^robably from 

 Japan, Australia, or Chile, a matter still in doubt, and in January of 

 ISOS. only twenty-eight years since its appearance, after having swei)t 

 like a scourge over the country, it became the subject of imperial German 

 edict prohibiting the importation of American fruits into Germany.* 



The introduction of the coffee disease from Africa practically wiped 

 out the Ceylon coff'ee industry; the damage done to European, South 

 African, and South American vine-growing regions from the introduc- 

 tion of the iDhylloxera, downy mildew, and black rot has yet to be 

 calculated; surely it would reach far into the hundreds of millions. It 



"" Howard, L. 0. The San Jost5 Scale. Its occurrence in the United States, with a 

 full account of its life history and the remedies to be used against it. Bull. Xo. 3, 

 Div. of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1S96. Howard, L. 0. San Jos6 

 Scale in 1S96-1897. Bull. Xo. 12, Div. of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture; 1898. 



