124 
Plant Pests and Legislation. 
pest in any state of existence is found, or to or by means of 
which the pest may appear to the Board or Department likely 
to spread, and the entering on any lands for the purposes of 
such destruction or removal, or for examination or enquiry, or 
any other purpose. 
3. Power to impose penalties (not exceeding ten pounds on 
each occasion) for offences against the Orders. 
4. Power by Order, with the consent of the Local Authority, 
to direct or authorise payment by them of compensation for 
crops, trees, or bushes, removed or destined under an Order. 
The compensation is not to exceed half value for diseased 
crops, nor three-quarter value for other crops. 
5. The Local Authorities who are required to carry the 
Orders into effect are the same as those under the Diseases of 
Animals Act. 
We see then, that since July 4, 1907, the Board of Agri- 
culture have been provided, under the “ Destructive Insects and 
Pests Act,” with the fullest legal powers for dealing with 
pests of cultivated plants ; that is, they now have powers to 
make, from time to time as they choose, “ Orders” dealing with 
any insect or fungus pest of plants. By virtue of these powers 
sixteen Orders have been issued during the past seventeen 
months. 1 Before considering the nature of these Orders, I 
should like to point out that in my opinion it is only certain 
kinds of plant-diseases which should be dealt with by legislative 
means. Such plant-diseases should (1) affect plants of economic 
importance ; (2) be infectious and epidemic, i.e., capable of 
spreading and of causing wholesale damage ; and (3) be 
restricted to definite areas, so that when drastic measures are 
enforced there is a probability of eradicating the pest. Among 
plant-diseases suitable for control by legislation are pre- 
eminently those which may be, or have lately been, introduced 
into Great Britain from foreign countries. The duties of 
keeping a look-out to prevent the introduction of fungus 
diseases of this description, and of stamping out outbreaks when 
the disease has been introduced, have been totally neglected by 
the Government in the past ; and as regards insect diseases the 
Colorado beetle has been the only one against which any 
action has been taken. 
In order to be able to carry out this new work of fighting 
plant-diseases, the Board of Agriculture require to have 
(1) expert scientific advice that shall be authoritative ; and 
(2) to be in practical touch with both farmer and fruit-grower. 
The Board of Agriculture is at present conspicuously handi- 
capped in not being supplied by Government with adequate 
1 A complete list of all the Orders issued will be given in the Journal of 
the South Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, for 1909. 
