Fifty years of Plant Pathology

Abstract

It is hard to realise that until the publication of Plant Pathology in 1952, the United Kingdom had no journal dedicated to plant pathology and, until 1981, plant pathologists had no UK learned society. The American Phytopathological Society first published its journal, Phytopathology, in 1911. Most UK papers on research related to plant pathology found their way to the Transactions of the British Mycological Society (first published in 1897) or the Annals of Applied Biology (first published in 1914). The early history of Plant Pathology is inextricably linked to the MinistryofAgriculture,Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and its advisory service the National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAAS) formed in 1946, later to become, in 1971, the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS). Some of the key dates have been recorded elsewhere (Hardwick, 1998). A meeting of a joint subcommittee of NAAS plant pathologists and entomologists on publications, held on 7 January 1947, recommended that a new technical periodical be published by MAFF devoted to agricultural entomology and plant pathology. Present were: Dr W A R Dillon-Western, Mr W E H Hodgson, Mr S G Jary, Mr W C Moore, Mr L Ogilvie, Mr L N Staniland, Dr I Thomas and Dr J H Western. They recorded: ` The need for such a publication is great, and the subject, though very wide, is a self-contained one. As envisaged, such a `Plant Pests and Diseases Reporter' or a `Plant Health Gazette' would in no way conflict with scientific journals such as the `Annals of Applied Biology'. Among the subjects that might be included in a periodical of this nature are: (i) Short but informative scientific articles on pests and diseases new to the country. (ii) The results of co-operative survey work (e.g. the special onion diseases surveys of 1943 and 1945). (iii) Preliminary results of field trials of considered value, yet not suitable for existing scientific journals (contributions of this nature find their way at present into Agriculture, Grower, Fruitgrower, Gardeners, Chronicle, etc.) (iv) Some of the most interesting and informative items on the prevalence of pests and diseases now included in the Monthly Summaries issued from Plant Pathology Laboratory. (v) Information about the Ministry's Approval Scheme for Insecticides and Fungicides, with lists of approved products. (vi) Explanatory notes on D.I.P. Acts and Orders, and Health Certification Schemes. (vii) Digests of English and foreign literature on topical subjects.'' On 13 February 1948, the first meeting of the NAAS Conference of Advisory Entomologists and Plant Pathologists Joint Sub-Committee on Publications was held, and W C Moore (Moore, 1969) was elected Chairman. At the meeting it was agreed that the Plant Pathology Laboratory at Harpenden (`Path Lab', now incorporated into the Central Science Laboratory at York) would complete a specimen number of the proposed journal from existing material. It should contain 30±40 pages and include illustrations. It was thought that such a publication would be issued quarterly. Members were asked to think of an appropriate name for the periodical. At its meeting on 19 December 1949 it was reported that the proposal for a technical journal had received support from people within the Ministry and that one of the occupants of the new posts at Path Lab, sanctioned by the Treasury, could act as the technical editor of the journal. In 1949, W C Moore became Director of the Path Lab and in 1950 recruited E C Large from NAAS, who was then based at Cambridge, to promote the systematic collection of quantitative data and assessment keys for individual diseases. Large was formerly a colloid chemist who had developed a dry bentonite-copperoxychloride fungicide for use either as a dust or spray. He had been appointed in 1941 as assistant to A Beaumont at Seale-Hayne Agricultural College in Devon to work on the control of potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans) (Colhoun, 1993). Moore's idea was for Large's unit to provide a technical service for the NAAS Disease Assessment Committee, previously run by the British Mycological Society (BMS). Moore also wished to capitalize on Large's writing abilities and he was to edit the proposed new journal. Large was, of course, by then famous for his work Advance of the Fungi, a book that was to influence many a budding biologist into a career in plant pathology (Large, 1940). Large's account of the potato blight epidemic that was to ravage Europe, and