THE -TEOPlCAi. 
AGBICULTORiST. [Oct. 1, 1902. 
and endangers tbe existence oi the organisms which 
cause the largest proportion o£ our epidemics. The 
spread of such diseases among human laeings, sparsely 
Ecattered over a wide area, is low. In closely- packed 
populations the prosperity of the organism causii^g 
the evil is most marked. But the multiplication of 
large areas of plants of the same kind destroys the 
natural equilibrium and increases the danger of 
epidemics. This danger calls for corresponding pre- 
cautionary measures. A hundred years ago the con- 
ditions favourable to the rapid spread of a disease 
caused by insect, fungus or bacterium were very 
much less than at the present day. But our 
weapons for an intelligent fight agaiust the attacks 
of these organisms were then of little use, and were 
wielded without confidence. We have now, as in 
human therapeutics, got past the " bleeding for all 
evils " stage, and our weapons are of no mean 
order. Man' s power over the organisms which injure 
cultivated plants is immeasurably greater than it 
ever wis before, and his koowledge of the plants 
themselves is equally extensive. Indeed in many 
ways the knowletg) of plant pathology and thera- 
peutics will bear uoniparision with that of human 
end veterinary medicine. 
All efficient measures for the preservation of 
health whether carried out by individuals or com- 
munities rest upon exact knowledge of the causes of 
diseases and the effects they produce in their victims. 
It is a matter for congratulation that there are a host 
of instances of the accurate tracing, by observation, 
of the causes of many diseases of plants. This has 
been accompanied by experiment, aud it needs no 
argument to convince anyone in the least acquainted 
with iuductive science that experiment is rs esseiitial 
as observation. The soieuce of plant pathology aud 
therapeutics has its giants, whose brilliant woik lias 
gained valuable positions in the advance of know- 
edge. .Medicine has its leaders like Hunter, Peisteur 
Simpson, Lister; and De Bary, Hartig, Tubeuf, 
Frank and others will be remenbered as the pioneers 
in a science the importance of which, from an 
economic point of view, will by-and-by be as fully 
recognised as medicine or veterinary science. Daring 
the past fifteen years the discoveties made in com- 
biiting insects and fungi which are'parasitic on plants 
have made almost a revolution in agriculture, though 
this has not been so much felt in Britain as in 
other countries. The conservatism of the British 
armer is a very marked character and leads to 
great delay in accepting the lessons learnt outside 
his own sphere. 
The general laws of sanitation in plants do not 
differ very much from those laid down for preventive 
medicine in man or animals. They include the 
removal and destruction by burning of dead plants, 
or dead parts of plants, suffering from conrmnnicable 
diseases, as soon as the outbreak is noticed and 
before it has widely spread; the prevention of con- 
ditions which favour infection ; the isolation by 
means of trenches of plants whose roots are diseased ; 
and the exclusion or quarantining of plants from in- 
fected countries. Thobc are but examples of saaitary 
nietlioda which should commend themselves to every 
practical man, and have been used with great success 
in numerous coses. They are, however, almost useless 
without an intelligent watching for the appearance 
of disease, such as every careful mother or shepherd 
exercises in the family or flock. It is not unusual 
to find a lack of observation in noticing the appear- 
ance of blights on crops, so that the evil is not 
considered until th5 fiolda ai'e most m rkedly 
devastated. Observation, too does not always lead to 
intelligent action. The farmer who seeing "smut" 
in his wheat t.ikei no mjaiiBres, aud attributes it 
to tVie prevalence of" the m de plant," is not a myth 
and may still be found in Brit tin. It is necessary, 
when sanitary 1 iws a-.e announced, that they should 
receive the sapport of those they are inte;jded to 
benefit, and a belief in sucli rules must be inculcated 
in those engaged in cultivating p'unts. 
The machinery for technical instruction in rural 
districts in Edgland exists, and could be used (as 
is has been to a slight extent) for disseminatiog 
such doctrines. But the farmer will learn more by 
his eyes than by his ears. His own knowledge, 
which gives him what success he has in his art, 
has been gained by the use of his eyes, rarely by 
reading books or attending lectures. Demonstrations 
of the methods and results of plant sanitation, to 
which all agriculturists and horticultnrists should 
be invited, should be carried out at local agricul- 
tural shows, at weekly markets and fairs, and at 
Colleges of agriculture. The interest the bee-keeping, 
dairy management and other demonstrations evoke 
at agricultural shows points to the fact that farmers 
are not averse to taking- advantage of this, the best 
method of instruction. Landowners might arrange 
that demonstnitions of sprajiag, fumigating, isolat- 
ing by trenches and other operations should be shown 
at convenient places, where their tenants and others 
could come and see these things for themselves. 
The science of plant pathology and physiology has 
opened a new epoch in agriculture, and British farmers 
should be alive to this fact. Let them not allow 
their competitors in other countries to profit at 
their expense by knowledge which they also might 
possess and which would enable them to get in ad- 
vance of others by obtaining more from the soil, 
with less expenditure of time and money. It is 
difficult for those interested in these questions to 
avoid a tendency to "make "the flesh creep" by 
exaggerating the probable results of supineness in 
the matter, but it is unwise, because the Britisher — 
and the agriculturist not less than other classes — 
directly he hears any suspicion of the shriek of the 
enthusiast, assumes an antagonism without relation 
to the gospel of the preacher. 
The conversion of the agriculturist and horticul- 
turist to these beliefs is not an easy matter, even 
as the agitation against small pox, vaccination and 
muzzling for rabies shows to be the case with humaa 
aud veterinary sanitation. A shorter and perhaps 
better way would be for those who control such 
affairs in the State to satisfy themselves — as has 
been done by f^ r jign governments— of the importance 
of plant sanitation and of the confidence to be placed 
in means already used, and then to enforce their 
practice. The history of sanitation shows that the 
existence of knowledge and the promulgation of 
methods were of little use till the force of the law 
was called into make the carrying out of these 
methods obligatory. The mortality in human beings 
and domesticated animtils would be far higher in 
Britain if the laws with regard to notification and 
treatmsnt of cases of fevers, small-pox, pknro-pneu- 
monia in cattle, swine fever, etc., were not enforced. 
There is little doubt that if the Board of Agricul- 
ture initiated similar measures to protect crops, in 
a short time those benefited would recogniso their 
value, just as has occurred in other ccuitries. In 
America the National Government exercises a super- 
vision and control in matters of qiiarantine and pre- 
vention of disease in plants, and expects each State 
to provide for the proper and timely application of 
the most approved remedial and preventive treat- 
ment when found necessary. The actual laws as 
to the suppression of diseases among cultivated 
plants are enacted and carried out by each State. 
These laws vary to some extent in the different 
States, but they are all accompanied by penalties— 
both fine and imprisonment — for neglect of orders to 
carry out the prescribed treatment. In Michigan 
any person who neglects to remove and destroy a 
diseased tree or fruit, after such eximiuation and 
notification as is provided by the law, is guilty of 
a misdemeanour, and punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in 
the country jail for not exceeding three mouths, 
or both. 
Such legislation in America has been in existence 
for nearly 20 years, and ia extending with the exact 
