Plant Pests and Legislation. 125 
f 
funds to organise the Department so that it is strong in these 
two respects. 
In my opinion, no adequate administration of the wide 
powers conferred on the Board under the Destructive Insects 
and Pests Act can be looked for — especially as regards the 
fungus and insect pests which cause such losses to the com- 
mercial fruit-grower — until the Board of Agriculture are put 
into a position which allows them to establish a well-equipped 
and scientifically organised Sub-Department. Such a Sub- 
Department was unanimously asked for by the Departmental 
Committee appointed in 1905 to inquire into the conditions 
of the fruit industry in this country. 
Let us now see what pests have been proceeded against by 
the Board of Agriculture and by what kind of Orders. 
Two diseases during the past two years have attracted 
general notice among agriculturists. 
The first is the American Gooseberry Mildew {Splice rotheca 
mors-uvce (Schwein.) Berk.). This mildew was introduced 
into Europe from America about 1900. Since 1900 it has 
spread through the greater part of Ireland and invaded parts 
of the Continent. It is an entirely new pest in this country, 
being unknown in England before 1903 or 1904 ; it is conse- 
quently a pest of which the English fruit-grower has had 
hitherto no experience. Its destructive powers can best be 
gauged by remembering the fact that it is solely on account of 
the presence of this mildew in the United States and Canada 
that the European varieties of gooseberries cannot be grown 
there to any commercial extent. 
The second disease is the “ Black Scab” or “ Warty Disease ” 
of the potato {Chrysophlyctis endobiotica, Schilb.). This again 
is a disease which is new to this country, having been intro- 
duced, apparently from the Continent, about fifteen years ago. 
There is a consensus of opinion among scientific and practical 
men that the “ Black Scab ” is an extremely dangerous and 
destructive disease. Already cases are on record where the 
potatoes in fields of several acres in extent, situated on farms 
in certain districts, have been so badly attacked by this pest 
that the crop has not b6en worth lifting, every tuber being 
affected with the disease. Already numerous instances are 
known where the soil of allotments and cottage gardens has 
become so thoroughly infected with the germs of this disease 
that it has become impossible to grow potatoes at all. At 
present the disease is firmly established in certain districts in 
certain counties ; and from these infected districts the disease 
has slowly but surely been spreading through the sale of 
diseased “ seed.” A number of counties in the Midlands, in 
the north of England, and in Wales have become infected ; 
