132 
Plant Pests and Legislation. 
when but few cases were known. Could prompt action then 
have been taken, potato-growers would not now be faced with 
a danger of such magnitude. But although this procrastina- 
tion has made the work much more difficult, it must be 
undertaken now in earnest and carried through. Acting on 
the advice of its Pests Committee, the Central Chamber of 
Agriculture have urged the Board of Agriculture to apply 
the Irish Order to Great Britain. All agriculturists should 
give hearty support to this movement, for the effect will 
be disastrous if this Black Scab disease is allowed to reach 
Lincolnshire and other centres of potato-growing and is not 
at once stamped out. Foreign countries are alive to the 
danger, and already Malta has closed its ports to all potatoes 
from Great Britain unless they are accompanied by “ a certificate 
from an officer of the Board or Department of Agriculture 
stating that they are free from Black Scab and were not grown 
on land infected with that disease.” 
It should be noted, also, that Farmers’ Clubs in Ireland 
have already begun to ask for the total prohibition of potatoes 
from Great Britain in view of the spread of Black Scab in 
this country. Indeed, all countries will be wise in refusing 
potatoes from England and Scotland if the spread of this 
disease is allowed to continue as it has done during recent 
years. 
The last Order to be mentioned is the “ American Goose- 
berry Mildew and Black Currant Mite (Ireland) Order, 1908,” 
issued on February 24, 1908. So far as I can hear, this Order 
became somewhat of a dead letter directly it was issued ; due 
no doubt to the fact that the mildew (introduced about 1900) 
had by 1908 spread practically all over Ireland. 
If now we view what has been done during 1907 and 1908 
to protect the crops of agriculturists against pests, we find 
important legislation being brought to bear on the subject. 
But this legislation is stultified to a large extent by the want 
of public opinion demanding that our Board of Agriculture 
be liberally equipped with men and money to carry out the 
necessary work. A State agricultural mycologist, entomo- 
logist, and chemist are required in this country, such as we 
find in the United States and also in Canada and our other 
Colonies. Until such official scientific assistance is available, 
the proper administration of the “ Destructive Insects and 
Pests Act” can hardly be looked for, with the result that 
agriculturists will suffer heavy losses through the attacks of 
new or recently-established pests. 
Ernest S. Salmon. 
Wye, Kent. 
December , 1908, 
