AMERICAN GOOSEBERRY-MILDEW AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION. 135 



other cases where the disease has suddenly appeared in European 

 countries, it has been traced to nurseries known to import gooseberries 

 directly or indirectly from America. 



It is necessary to draw special attention to the misstatements that 

 have lately been made in connection with the American gooseberry- 

 mildew, in order that the main issues may not be obscured, viz. the fact 

 that the present dangerous gooseberry disease is one recently introduced 

 through importation of affected stock, and that the disease is eminently a 

 case where legislative action by the Authorities is required. 



I have obtained from the Customs the following statement of the 

 quantities and values of raw gooseberries imported into this country in 

 1902-1901. Particulars of the importation of gooseberry-bushes are not 

 available, as the law does not require such goods to be described 

 separately by importers. 



1902 1903 1904 



Conntries whence imported 



cwts. 



£ 



cwts. 







i 



Norway 



22 



18 











Denmark 



1 



1 



39 



40 







Germany 



360 



216 



2.068 



1.704 



203 



156 



Netherlands 



23.886 



13.72$ 



28.594 



22.640 



33.122 



18.024 



Belgium 



1.941 





1.416 



1.200 



1.776 



1.098 



France 



1.354 



1.668 



2,138 



2.7-0 



1.091 



1.709 



Channel Islands . 







57 



80 



23 



37 



We may welcome the fact that attempts are now being made in 

 different quarters to direct public attention to the imperative necessity of 

 invoking legislation. The danger of the present state of affairs and the 

 importance of taking steps to prevent the ever-increasing importation of 

 animal pests of plants is emphasised in Professor Theobald's recent 

 Presidential Address before the Association of Economic Biologists.* Not 

 the least important of the recommendations contained in the Report of 

 the Committee on the Fruit Industry (published in the E.H.S. Journal, 

 vol. xxix. p. 556^ is the one urging the Authorities to deal energetically 

 with the question of the importation of fungus and insect diseases 

 affecting plants. 



But, in connection with the American gooseberry-mildew. I would 

 point out he-re emphatically that the opportunity of stamping out the 

 disease in Ireland is fast slipping away. Further importation of dis- 

 eased plants can of course always be prevented by legislation, but (as I 

 wrote in 1905) the possibility of the complete eradication of the 

 disease in Ireland diminishes as each year passes, bringing with it the 



has been distributed from one and the same nursery in Denmark. I did not feel 

 myself justified in giving this information to the public, although I mentioned it to 

 the Authorities. The owner of the nursery, at my advice, adopted the strongest 

 possible measures, grubbing up and burning all his gooseberry-bushes, and at the 

 same time promised not to cultivate gooseberry-bushes for some years.' And what 

 has been the result of the leniency and indulgence shown to this firm ? The firm, 

 who^e name has been given to me privately, has offered for sale in its catalogues for 

 *he past five years (1901-6 1 respectively 30, 21. 27. 31. and 28 different varieties of 

 gooseberries. Is it surprising under such circumstances that the disease has spread 

 in Denmark so quickly and with such intensity ? " 



* " Animal Pests and Legislation " (Proc. Assoc. Econ. Biolog.. vol. i. p. 29. 1906). 



