300,000 FOR PINE BLISTER DISEASE, AN 

 EFFECTIVE QUARANTINE LAW 



CONGRESS passed on Sunday, March 4, just before 

 adjournment, two amendments to the Agricultural 

 appropriation bill which are of vital interest to 

 members of the American Forestry Association and to all 

 interested in forestry and lovers of trees. 



The first amendment added $300,000 to the appropri- 

 ation for the investigation and eradication of the pine 

 blister disease. 



The second gave the Federal Horticultural Board 

 much needed authority to declare effective quarantines 

 in the case of the pine blister disease and other tree and 

 plant diseases. 



It is these two measures for which the American 

 Forestry Association and cooperating organizations have 

 been striving since last fall when it became apparent 

 that vigorous measures must be taken to save the five- 

 leaved pines of the United States and Canada which are 

 threatened with destruction by the disease. 



If this appropriation and this revised quarantine law 

 are now supplemented by the legislatures of the states 

 in the five-leaved pine belt passing appropriations and 

 adopting stringent quarantine laws to enable their state 

 authorities to deal properly with this menacing disease, 

 there is hope that it will be prevented from spreading 

 and perhaps be stamped out. The various states already 

 infected and others where the disease may appear are 

 now considering legislation to deal with the situation. 



One-half of the $300,000 appropriation will be used by 

 the Department of Agriculture in state cooperation, pro- 

 viding the states do their part in providing appropriations. 



The original provision in the Agricultural bill was as 

 follows : 



" For the investigation of diseases of forest and 

 ornamental trees and shrubs, including a study of 

 the nature and habits of the parasitic fungi causing 

 the chestnut-tree bark disease, the white-pine 

 blister rust, and other epidemic tree diseases, for 

 the purpose of discovering new methods of control 



and applying methods of eradication or control 

 already discovered, $85,915." 



The amendment added the following paragraph: 



'■ For applying such methods of eradication or 

 control of the white-pine blister rust as in the judg- 

 ment of the Secretary may be necessary, including 

 the payment of such expenses and the employment 

 of such persons and means in the city of Washing- 

 ton and elsewhere, in cooperation with such author- 

 ities of the states concerned, organizations, or 

 individuals as he may deem necessary to accomplish 

 such purposes, $300,000, of which $150,000 shall be 

 immediately available, and in the discretion of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture of the remaining $150,000 

 no expenditures shall be made until a sum or sums 

 at least equal to such expenditures shall have been 

 appropriated, subscribed, or contributed by state, 

 county, or local authorities or by individuals or 

 organizations for the accomplishment of such pur- 

 pose: Provided, That no part of the money herein 

 appropriated shall be used to pay the cost or value 

 of trees or other property injured or destroyed." 



The existing quarantine law permitted the Federal 

 Horticultural Board to declare a quarantine only where a 

 dangerous plant or insect infestation was known to 

 exist. This was entirely inadequate. What was needed 

 was a law giving the Board power to declare a quarantine 

 where such a quarantine was necessary to prevent the 

 spread of the infestation. The amended law gives the 

 Board such power and it may now declare a quarantine 

 which will be effective in preventing the spread of the 

 disease, in any state or territory or any portion of them, 

 and in any section of the country. 



It is expected that one of the first acts of the Board 

 will be to establish a dead line through the great plains 

 states in order to prevent the pine blister disease spreading 

 into the West. 



A FEATHERED DOG IN THE MANGER 



BY LEWIS E. THEISS 



THE story of the doR in the manger was intended to 

 be a take-off on humans, but the situation portrayed 



sometimes has its counterpart among the dumb 

 animals. A commotion on the back porch of a Pennsyl- 

 vania home led to the discovery that birds were trying to 

 secure the dry and shriveled berries of some black alder 

 branches that had been used for Christmas decorations and 

 subsequently put temporarily on the porch. In order to 

 see the birds well, these branches were at once fastened to 

 a low limb of an elm tree that swung just outside a window. 

 Shortly the birds flew down to the berries and proved 

 to be those beautiful creatures, the waxwings. Sixteen of 

 them came to feed, singly or in groups, on the dried berries. 

 Some of these berries, which had fallen to the grotmd, had 

 been picked up liy the householder and ])ut on the window- 

 sill ; and there the waxwings perched unafraid and ate, 

 although the householder and his family stood on the other 

 side of the glass jjane watching them. 



168 



When the feast was at its height, an enormous fat 

 robin flew down to the berries, and, darting this way and 

 that, soon drove the waxwings away. But he did not eat 

 the l)errics. In fact he showed no interest in them. When 

 the waxwings returned, he drove them away again. Then 

 he took his stand on a nearby tree to guard the berries. 

 The waxwings collected in the same tree, and there they 

 sat, eying the robin. He made no move until a waxwing 

 tried to get a berry. Then he darted at the offender. It 

 was a curious sight to see these birds sitting in the tree, 

 motionless, and watching one another. 



When it became perfectly evident that the robin's sole 

 motive was to keep the other birds from food he did not 

 want, the householder went out and threw a snowball at 

 him. All the birds (lew away. But the berries were an 

 irresistible magnet and soon the waxwings were back. Im- 

 mediately the robin dashed on the scene and drove them 

 oft". Then he pcrclied on the tree and mounted guard. 



