Plant Sanitation. 



126 



[August, 1910. 



sitic on various insects of economic 

 importance, and are, even under natural 

 conditions, of great importance as a 

 supplementary means of keeping such 

 insects under control. 



The recognition of this last point is of 

 comparatively recent date, and the 

 observations and experiments that have 

 been carried out so far tend to show 

 that it is of primary importance in the 

 control of certain insect pests, which is 

 very much cheaper, and at the same 

 time more effective, in many cases, than 

 any of the artificial methods in common 

 use at the present time. The employ- 

 ment of parasitic fungi in the control of 

 various pests is at present, compara- 

 tively speaking, in its infancy, but there 

 can be little doubt that, should this 

 method fulfil in the future the promise 

 held out by the results of experiments 

 conducted up to the present time, it will 

 prove of the utmost service to the 

 practical agriculturist. 



THE NEW ORDER OP THE BOARD 

 OF AGRICULTURE, 



(From the Gat deners' Chronicle, 

 Vol. XLV1L, No. 1221, May 21, 1910.) 

 The attention of horticulturists is 

 directed to the Destructive Insects' and 

 Pests' Order of 1910, which has been 

 issued by the Board of Agriculture aud 

 Fisheries. The order, which we print in 

 this issue, applies to Great Britain, and 

 with its publication the Destructive 

 Insects' and Pests' Order of 1908 is re- 

 voked. 



The new order marks a definite step 

 in the attempt to cope systematically 

 with the damage done to agriculture 

 and horticulture by insect and fungal 

 pests. Among the pests included in the 

 schedule to which the order applies are 

 eleven insects and five fungi. The 

 insects thus put in the index are the 

 vine louse, the San Jose scale, the 

 Mediterranean fruit-fly, the Colorado 

 beetle, the large Larch saw-fly, the 

 Potato-moth, the gipsy moth, the brown 

 tail moth, the Cherry fly and the Narcis- 

 sus fly. The fungal pests which come 

 under the ban of the Board are black 

 knot, wart disease (black scab) of Pota- 

 toes, Tomato leaf-spot, Melon or Cucum- 

 ber canker and American Pear blight. 



The order provides that the occupier 

 of premises on whichever of these 

 diseases declare themselves shall notify 

 the fact, together with particulars, to 

 the officer appointed by the local autho- 

 rity, or if no such officer exists in the 

 locaiity, the Board itself must be 

 notified. 



On the report of the officer, the local 

 authority is required to inform the 

 Board of Agriculture, and also to take 

 steps to determine to what extent the 

 insect — or fungus— pest exists in the in- 

 fected area. 



The officer has, moreover, the right of 

 entry to any premises on which he has 

 reason to believe there exists any insect 

 or fungus mentioned in the schedule, 

 and has also the power to examine any 

 plant, fruit, crop, seeds, tubers, hulbs, 

 layers or cuttings on such premises. 

 The powers of the local authority to 

 deal with the scheduled pests are con- 

 siderable. In the first place, it may 

 require; through its officer, that the 

 occupier of the land subject to the pest 

 shall adopt such measures for preventing 

 the spread of insect or pest as are speci- 

 fied in the notice. In the second place, 

 where the local authority has consented 

 to pay compensation it may orier the 

 destruction of the diseased plants. The 

 owner, however, has the right of appeal 

 to the Board, aud the Board may cancel 

 the order for destruction or modify it, 

 as it may think fit. 



Other sections of the order impose 

 penalties for the sale, or use for planting, 

 ot diseased seeds, tubers, bulbs, layers 

 or cuttings, and also prohibit the import- 

 ation or sale of living specimens of any 

 of the pests mentioned in the schedule. 



Being in full agreement with the prin- 

 ciples of the order, we congratulate the 

 Board on the courageous course it has 

 adopted. At the same time, we may 

 point out that unless the order is applied 

 gradually, sympathetically, and with 

 discrimination, it is likely to fail of its 

 purpose. That purpose is the systematic 

 putting down ot certain notorious pests, 

 the existence of which entails serious 

 loss to the agricultural and horticultur- 

 al community. To give successful effect 

 to this purpose, the order must gain not 

 only the acquiescence of the grower as 

 a law-abiding citizen, but his enthusias- 

 tic support can hardly be expected if 

 the order entails frequent destruction of 

 crops, haggling over compensation and 

 waste of time in correspondence, 



Whence it follows that inspection must 

 precede and not be subsequent to the 

 outbreak. In other words, if a number 

 of local officers are to be appointed, it 

 must not be their function to wait till 

 the crimes of the pests are notorious 

 before proceeding to the arrest of the 

 offenders ; but rather to perambulate 

 the country to sO gain the confidence 

 of the growers that their visits are wel- 

 come and not regarded as intrusions, 

 and to systematically advise the growers 



