FUTURE OF THE CHESTNUT TREE 555 



form, believed that it had hitherto escaped the notice of botanists, occur- 

 ring in an inconspicuous way as a weak parasite or saprophyte, but that 

 conditions unfavorable to the chestnut, such as extremely cold winters 

 and severe droughts, continued coppicing, etc., had rendered the tree sus- 

 ceptible to attack. As to the suddenness of the outbreak, this was to be 

 accounted for by the very unusual climatic conditions which prevailed 

 about the time of its appearance. Moreover, serious troubles of the 

 chestnut had been before noted in this country, but had never been 

 really explained. 



On the other hand, those who believed the fungus to be an introduced 

 species pointed to its apparent spread from the region around New York 

 City as a center, our greatest port of entry, to the suddenness of the 

 attack, to the fact that the fungus had never been observed here before, 

 and lastly, to the partial immunity of certain varieties of the Japanese 

 chestnut, which were first raised extensively on Long Island, the impli- 

 cation here being that the fungus might be a Japanese species to which, 

 in their native home, the Japanese chestnuts had in the course of a long 

 period of time become partially immune. 



The last point was significant, but not conclusive, since the fungus 

 had never been found in Japan, nor was it possible at the time to locate 

 it in any foreign country. 



In the course of time investigations brought out the fact that the 

 fungus was closely related to a species already known in Europe and 

 America, and by some was considered a variety of this, while others re- 

 garded it as a distinct species. Without going into details, it is sufficient 

 to note the main fact emerging from them, namely, that the fungus was 

 a new form, at least one not before known in Europe or America. 



For a long time efforts to locate the fungus in the orient were with- 

 out avail, but recently Mr. Frank X. Meyer, of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, has sent to Washington specimens from a 

 blighted chestnut in China, which have been found to contain the 

 identical fungus which has caused the trouble here. Moreover, from the 

 nature of the locality in which it was collected, the fungus appeared to 

 be indigenous. It should also be noted that the Chinese trees gave the 

 appearance of being much more resistant to the disease than the 

 American. 10 



Unless, indeed, we construct a theory of independent origin of species 

 identically the same, due to essentially similar conditions of environ- 

 ment, we are justified, then, in believing that this parasite was brought 

 into this country, and, judging from the past, may continue its steady 



10 Shear, C. L., and Stevens, N. E., ' < The Chestnut Blight Parasite (Endothia 

 parasitica) from China," Science, N. S., 38: 295-297, 1913. 



Metcalf, Haven, ''The Chestnut Bark Disease," Jour, of Heredity, 5: 8, 

 1914. 



