FIRE BLIGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17649, 9 December 1920, Page 10

FIRE BLIGHT.

.-.Sir, —I see that a man has been .fined for not trying to eradicate fire .blight. I w|§h to protest" against this, for the reason that the Agricultural Department had-charge of the ports, and had all the '! plants imported right in its hands, and ; apparently failed -to preset-ye us against - fire blight. ' Either the department could not protect us or else it was negligent. If , -it could -not-, why should anyone out- ' side the department be fined for not doing what the department failed to do If f it*'was negligent, it is a gross injustice ? tot penalise a common orchardist for the department's negligence. The proper , people to fine would be the heads of the - department. From what appears at -pre- i sent, I am' of opinion it -would be just ;/• as sensible to fine . a man for '■ .having ■■ ; potato blight, . as the - blight seems to come all over the country spontaneously. ■ Anyway, the -department's ..bull-at-a-gate style of . cutting out trees and fining people' is going at it the wrong way. • It . must jbe taken as an absolute fact that "blights" do not cause absolute destruction, else there -would be -no plants or • animals. .Nature provides checks. The , scientific way .is to find those checks, and apply them. Look after the health of the trees, perfect their resistance to disease, and ' feed the trees with the • material that is noxious to the bacteria. If? the thing affecting some of my ' trees'"" is, as it 'is said to be;, fire blight, it appears to have done,, its •wccrstf* "for, the s season. V Anyway, it only came 'on trees whose health, for various reasons, was below the standard. ' In all? cases the various causes of" lowered, health were causes I have never teen- mentioned in departmental literature. . The department may know all about these causes, but -as far as I am concerned I<jk> not ever, remember the department mentioning these causes, and the knowledge of them is very essential to 'successful orchardisins:. I had to divine these matters -for -myself.' - When I walk in •orchards and see; these causes of disease in if nil swing, I wonder how the department can have " the nerve" to talk ''fine" to;anyone. Sam. A. Beowne. Clevedon, Dec- 4, 1920. .