498 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



couraged, a South African water bottle (Next in this series will be Young 



blew up and a fragment killed Black Wild's Spirit Pay-Roil, or Lariat Laura 

 Heart in his cowardly tracks. True in Death.) 



DESTROY DISEASED PINES 



FURTHER investigations by spe- 

 cialists of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture into the white- 

 pine blister rust have convinced 

 the Department that if this disease be- ' 

 comes generally distributed in our for- 

 ests it will be the worst enemy that the 

 white-pine has to encounter. Drastic 

 action is therefore urged again by the 

 authorities in order to eradicate the dis- 

 ease before it becomes as firmly planted 

 here as it is already in Europe. Own- 

 ers of infected areas are strongly ad- 

 vised to destroy their diseased trees 

 without delay. There is no chance that 

 the tree can recover, and it is merely a 

 menace to its neighbors. 



To indicate the seriousness of the 

 disease it is known about 10 years ago 

 infected trees were found in the pines 

 planted for ornamental purposes in a 

 large private estate in Vermont. About 

 50 of the 150 trees on this estate or 

 33 1-3 per cent are now visibly afifected 

 by this disease. Probably 5 or 10 per 

 cent more will develop it, for it takes a 

 long time for the maximum of damage 

 to be done. 



In studying this menace the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture has had something 

 like 200 lots of white-pines carefully in- 

 spected. Results of this inspection show 

 conclusively that a single tree with 

 fruiting bodies of the fungus and in 

 proximity to a currant bush which acts 



as a carrier for the disease may start 

 an epidemic which may continue for 

 years and may spread over an area of 

 several square miles. Moreover, it was 

 found that the inspection and removal 

 of trees actually found to be infected 

 was quite inefficient to prevent the 

 spread of the plague. Despite the pres- 

 ent loss that it would cause, therefore, 

 the Department feels that the only safe 

 method is the total destruction of in- 

 fected lots. 



The white-pine blister rust is a native 

 of Europe, and was first discovered in 

 this country in 1909. It has not as yet 

 attacked any of our forests, and if 

 owners of white pines which have not 

 been grown from seeds wotild make a 

 conscientious search for evidence of the 

 disease, it is hoped that it can yet be 

 kept imder control. Ordinarily the rust 

 makes its presence known throtigh yel- 

 low blisters which break out through 

 the bark on the main stem near the 

 ground. After a few days these blis- 

 ters break open and give forth large 

 numbers of dusty orange-colored pine 

 spores. 



Owners who have reason to suspect 

 this disease on their trees are urged to 

 forward specimens for investigation to 

 the Of^ce of Forest Pathology, Bureau 

 of Plant Industry, where examination 

 of them will be made free of charge. 



Taconia's Water Supply. 



The city of Tacoma, Washington, has entered into a cooperative agreement with the 

 Forest Service for the protection of the source of its water supply, the watershed of the 

 Green River, which lies within the Rainier National Forest. The two agencies working 

 together will protect this stream from the results of forest destruction by fire or by other 

 agencies. 



