उपवनविनोद (आचार्य शार्ङ्गधर - वृक्षायुर्वेद, भू-जल संधान एवं उद्यान-विज्ञान सटीक)

SCIENCE OF ARBORI-HORTICULTURE IN ANCIENT INDIA 29
water should be kept together (undisturbed) for seven nights. The applica-
tion of this water leads very much to the growth in flowers and fruits of
all trees (110-112)."
Dr. Seal concludes: these elaborate recipes are emperical contrivances
for supplying the plant with the requisite nitrogen compounds, phosphates,
etc., these being potentially contained in the mixtures and infusions pres-
cribed."
XIII. TREATMENT OF TREES—TO BE READ ALONG
WITH VIII. PROTECTION OF TREES
Treatment of plant-diseases as a distinct branch of knowledge was recog-
nised by our ancestors at a very early date. Destruction of plants by fungi
and pestiferous insects, are referred to in ancient literature.
For the first time, in the Vedic literature, we find a hymn in Atharva
Veda (Bk. VI, 50) which refers to the destruction of corns by vermins, such
as, the tarda (borer) the jabhya (snapper), the upakvasa (a noxious insect
injurious to seeds-Vedic Index), the vyadvaras (rodents), samanka (hook), the
mole, and such other devourers of corn¹.
Sāyana's commentary thereon gives a long list of pestiferous insects (Kāuśik,)
51, 17-22—मूषकशलभपतङ्गटिढिभकीटककोटिकाद्दरिवारुकशल्यकगोसीधागोकाम्यादि सस्य विनाशकानि²।
The next definite mention of plant diseases, as such, is found in the Vinaya
Piṭaka (C. X. 1. 6.). Here by way of analogy Lord Buddha mentioned the two
most important of cereal diseases, namely, the "mildew" and the "blight".
The text is well worth quoting here: "And just Ānanda, as when the disease,
called mildew, falls upon a field of rice (corns) in fine condition, that field of
rice does not continue long; just so etc. And just, Ānanda, as when the
disease called blight falls upon a field of sugarcane in good condition, that
field of sugarcane does not continue long; just so, etc."³ It may here be point-
ed out that in the old Testament there are about half a dozen references to
the existence of "blights" and "mildews", and Aristotle (350 B. C.) knew of the
epidemic nature of wheat rust.⁴
Next in the Śukranīti (IV. ii. 56-57) we find the following text: "He
(king) should not preserve those (grains) that have been attacked by poisons,
fire or snows, or eaten by worms or insects, or those that have been hollowed
out, but should use them for immediate use".⁵
1 Harvard Oriental Series, Vol 7. Eng. Tran. Whitney.
2 The Kauśika-Sūtra of the Atharva Veda, Ed. Maurice Bloomfield. The Journal of the
Amer. Soc. Vol XIV. 1890. New Haven. See also S. B. E. Vol. 42, pp. 485-487.
3 S. B. E. Vol 20, p. 326.
4 The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 13th Ed. Vol. 21-22. Plant Pathology, p. 754.
5 S. B. H. Vol 13, p. 140,