methods employed in fighting them. For many years it was known in 

 a general way that fungi caused such disease as rusts, smut, blight, mil-, 

 dew, rot, etc., and were doing an immense amount of damage, but it 

 was not until 1886 that any systematic endeavour was made in this 

 country* to obtain information on the subject. At this time the National 

 Government, through its Department of Agriculture, took the matter in 

 chargf*. And as a result we have at the present time some reliable data 

 on the subject. It is estimated that at the lowest figures the annual loss 

 in this country through the agency of these foe? will exceed a hundred 

 million dollars. 



The grape alone is subject to the attacks of no less than a dozen 

 destructive fungous pests besides half a hundred which cause more or 

 le?s damage. In the c;ise of one disease affecting this fruit, i. e., black- 

 rot, more than 50 per cent of the crop is annually destroyed in nearly 

 all the vine-growing regions east of the Mississippi River, Grains, 

 fruits, vegetables, and in fact nearly every plant that man cultivates, is 

 subject to the attacks of these foes. With a view to preventing these 

 losses the Department of Agriculture at Washington is making a 

 scientific study of the fungi causing them. This involves first a careful 

 investigation ot the life history of each fungus in the laboratory, for it is 

 only when we know how each lives that we can make an intelligent 

 efiort in the way of fighting it. The first tning, therefore, in our war- 

 fare against these foes is to find out where to attack them at their weak- 

 est point, and to do this requires [)ainstaking work, often extending over 

 a period of months and sometimes years. After we know something of 

 the habits of a fungus we are in a position similar to that of a general 

 who has located his foe. Plans are decided upon for the attack, which, 

 if made at the right time and in the right place, makes victory much 

 more certain. It must be borne in mind, however, that in conflicts of 

 this kind man does not always come out with flying colours. Often he 

 is utterly defeated despite the fact that he has made a hard fight, which 

 after all makes defeat less humiliating. 



In fighting the fungi two lines of attack are usually adopted, both 

 of which, as a rule, are defensive rather than ofiensive. In the first 

 method advantage is taken of the fact that at certain seasons of the year 

 parts of the plant attacked containing the reproductive bodies of the 

 fungus may be destroyed without injury to the plant itself. An ex- 

 ample of this kind is found in the grape leaves afi^ected as already des- 

 cribed with downy mildew. It will be remembered that this fungus is 

 carried over winter by means of reproductive bodies which are formed 

 in late summer within the leaf, falling to the ground with the latter and 

 escaping when the leaf decays. Now, by raking together and burning 

 these leaves in autumn, thousands, yes, millions of these minui e repro- 

 ductive bodies are destroyed. Ot course every one destroyed in this 

 way lessens the chances of infection the following summer; at least such 

 would appear to be the case from a theoretical point of view. In prac- 

 tice, however, it is found that work of this kind alone has very little 

 effect, simply because it is almost impossible to get concerted action on 



* The United States of America. 



