128 
Plant Pests and Legislation. 
The next Order that was issued, on July 17, 1908, was the 
“ American Gooseberry Mildew (Kent) Order of 1908.” This, 
like all the existing Orders, gave the County Council no power 
to order a grower to destroy a diseased bush, the grower being 
allowed the alternative (which is practically always taken) 
of pruning and spraying. Acting on the advice of Wye 
College, the Kent County Council objected to the Order as it 
stood, and applied for the power (which a Local Authority is 
entitled to have under the “ Destructive Insects and Pests Act,” 
see page 124) to give compensation, so that their inspectors 
could order at any time the destruction of diseased bushes. 
On August 14, 1908, the Board issued the American Gooseberry 
Mildew (Kent) Order of 1908 (No. 2), which gives the Kent 
County Council powers to order, whenever they think 
advisable, the immediate destruction of diseased bushes, 
compensation (out of the rates) being paid on the scale 
mentioned above on page 124. 
Such powers are, in my opinion, absolutely necessary for 
every County Council to possess, since without them it is 
powerless, in the event of a small and circumscribed outbreak 
in any part of the county, to clear that district (before this 
highly-infectious mildew has had time to spread) by ordering 
the immediate destruction of the diseased bushes. In such 
cases as these, under the Orders under which all other County 
Councils are at present acting, the grower possesses the right 
of choosing the alternative of merely pruning and spraying, 
and considering that under these same Orders no compensation 
is paid, it is practically certain that the grower would not 
consent to destroy at once the diseased bushes. I would 
point out, further, that the present policy of allowing Local 
Authorities to deal in different ways with an infectious and 
epidemic disease such as the American Gooseberry Mildew is 
essentially unscientific and uneconomic. Unless the work of 
fighting new plant diseases is planned as a work of national 
and not local importance, it is certain that much money will 
be wasted by County Councils, while little or no results will 
be obtained for the country generally. 
On August 28, 1908, and October 5, 1908, respectively, the 
American Gooseberry Mildew (Essex) and American Goose- 
berry Mildew (Shropshire) Orders were issued. 
On November 27, 1908, a special Order was issued, affecting 
parts of Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Cambridgeshire. This 
is entitled the “ American Gooseberry Mildew (Wisbech 
and District) Order of 1908,” and gives growers permission 
to move gooseberry or currant bushes if the bushes are 
accompanied by a licence signed by an inspector of the Board 
of Agriculture. 
