Ralph Estey chronicles the history of plant pathology and mycology in Canada from this early period to the late 1940s when it entered its professional, biochemically oriented phase. His major topics include the pioneering roles of entomologists and horticulturists in the genesis of plant pathology; the influence of diseases in potatoes, grain, and forage crops on early developments in plant pathology and mycology; the factors prompting the development of the relatively new sciences of forest pathology and nematology; and the teaching of plant pathology. Estey discusses early legislation in Canada pertaining to plant diseases and the faltering first steps toward international regulation, and provides a detailed history of mycology province by province.

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"Provides an in-depth study of the pre-World War II development of the sciences. Estey has deliberately featured the role that plant diseases had on the genesis of plant pathology and mycology in Canada ... and provides a comprehensive coverage of the early history of the two sciences in this country." R.D. Tinline, Plant Pathologist (Retired).