COMMUNICATIONS 



The Blight on Chestnut Trees 



Editor Conservation : 



The article in the November number 

 of Conservation on "The BHght on 

 Chestnut Trees," by Prof. John Mickle- 

 borough, impels me to ofifer a sugges- 

 tion for those who seek a remedy. 



I judge from the article that all ef- 

 forts thus far have been toward the 

 destruction of the so-called enemy, the 

 fungi which encircles the branch under 

 the bark, cutting off the circulation 

 and causing the. branch to wither and 

 die. Professor Mickleborough says, "It 

 finds lodgment where the bark is 

 abraded." I have examined the photo- 

 graphs illustrating the article, but am 

 unable to discover any young chestnut 

 trees. It occurs to me that a young 

 tree of vigorous growth might be im- 

 mune, and that the real trouble precedes 

 the fungi referred to. This I know to 

 be the case with the cottony scale on 

 soft maples. Treat them as a gardener 

 does a pot-bound plant in a greenhouse 

 — shift to a larger pot with fresh soil. 

 The plant immediately turns from yel- 

 low to green and the insects disappear. 

 With the tree, dig up well, mulch and 

 cover the surface with shrubbery to 

 maintain its aeration and absorb the 

 rainfall, holding dead leaves, etc., and 

 the tree becomes immune. This scale 

 appears to feed on the return sap which 

 is coagulated and deficient in conse- 

 (luence of insufficient assimilation of 

 the necessary elements. 



Chestnut trees in Wisconsin, sur- 

 rounded by "civilization," go all to 

 pieces after they attain a large size ; 

 every wind storm tears off a piece, ex- 

 posing decay. The bark is invariably 

 broken, apparently by winter freezing. 

 Were the fungi to take possession and 

 finish the job in short order, it would 

 get the blame. However, I am inclined 

 to think that all troubles which at first 



112 



sight appear to be caused by some in- 

 sect or vegetable growth, are due to 

 some deterioration from causes unno- 

 ticed, which produce conditions pecu- 

 liarly adapted to the growths of which 

 we complain. They are in the nature 

 of scavengers. The tree outgrows the 

 capacity of its environment to sustain 

 in normal condition ; then nature imme- 

 diately starts pulling it to pieces to 

 construct something in its place. The 

 faster or most rank growing trees usu- 

 ally come to grief first, particularly if 

 they be smooth barked. 



If Professor Mickelborough finds 

 young chestnut trees in fresh soil escap- 

 ing the trouble he mav be sure that 

 proper cultivation of the tree will cause 

 the fungi to disappear. When people ask 

 me how to keep dandelions out of their 

 lawn, I say "cultivate grass ;" then I 

 prove to them that they pay and pray 

 for grass only, but everything they do 

 to the lawn favors the dandelion. Just 

 as soon as the chestnut tree's character- 

 istics go ungratified, so-called disease 

 will surely set in, one variety after an- 

 other, until the tree finally disappears. 

 I believe energy spent in fighting is 

 waste ; the way to overcome the evil 

 is to cultivate the good. The environ- 

 ment which maintains the desirable 

 will always .starve the undesirable. 



C. B. WlIITNAr.L. 

 J^' «r' «? 



More About the Blight 



Editor Conservation : 



Reading in your current November 

 number the article on "The Blight on 

 Chestnut Trees," in which is reaffirmed 

 the failure to discover a remedy for 

 that blight, I believe you may be inter- 

 ested in what seems to have been a 

 successful remedial course of treatment 

 of a "blighted" small, scattered chest- 



