1056 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



pith. The developing ears are also sometimes hollowed lists, are so amazing as to be classed with fairy stories 



out. As high as 90 per cent of the stalks in a corn by those who are little acquainted with the wonders of 



field may be infested. Over 200 borers have been found Nature. White pine blister rust is an instance. This 



in the stalks growing in one hill of com. Control is made parasitic fungus is native to the Old World, attacking the 



more difficult by the fact that the borer feeds on a num- stone pine and other native five-leaved pines of Europe, 



ber of other plants, including the stalks of weed.^ and When extensive interest in planting forest trees first 



flowers, and may live over winter in grass roots. began to develop about a score of years ago, white pines 



Many people believe that we have been bringing in imported from Germany, France and Holland, brought 



plants from abroad for so many years that now we have this disease to the United States, principally in 1908 and 



all of the pests 

 to which plants 

 are heir. This 

 is a mistake, in 

 the opinion of 

 plant physi- 

 cians who are 

 best qualified to 

 know. The Bu- 

 reau of Ento- 

 mology, United 

 States Depart- 

 ment of Agri- 

 culture, has 

 published de- 

 s c r i ptions of 

 over 3,000 dis- 

 tinct insect 

 pests which are 

 likely to be in- 

 troduced into 

 this country 

 and cause ser- 

 ious loss. About 

 half of these 

 are European 

 insects which 

 feed upon for- 

 est and shade 

 trees and the 

 balance infest 

 v a r ious culti- 

 vated crops. 

 Among the im- 

 portant insects 

 which it is 

 hoped to ex- 

 clude from the 

 American con- 

 tinent are the 

 Mediterranean 

 fruit fly, con- 

 sidered by en- 

 tomologists to 

 take first prize 



Photograph by IV. S. Carpenter, New York Conservation Commission 



STRANGLED TO DEATH 



A native ten year old white pine tree which has heen girdled by the white pine blister rust, a fungus 

 of foreign origin first found in America in 1906. The cankered area above the ax is due to the killing 

 of the bark by the growth of the fungus. Tlie disease has progressed to such an extent that the sap is be- 

 ing cut off from the top and the tree is in the last stages of destruction. This disease cannot be transmitted 

 directly from pine to pine but must pass tlirough an intermediate stage on currants or gooseberry bushes. 

 To prevent white pines from becoming diseased, remove all currant and gooseberry bushes from the vicinity 

 of the trees. 



1909. Curious- 

 ly, the safety of 

 our white pines 

 depends entire- 

 ly on whether 

 we can control 

 the spread of 

 the disease on 

 currant and 

 g o o s e b e r ry 

 bushes. The 

 fungus cannot 

 go directly 

 from one pine 

 tree to another 

 but first must 

 spend part of 

 its life on cur- 

 rant or goose- 

 fa e r r y leaves 

 and in this 

 stage it has the 

 power of 

 spreading 

 I a p i d 1 y and 

 widely to other 

 currant and 

 goosebcr ry 

 bushes. T h e 

 fungus then 

 develops anoth- 

 er stage by 

 which it is en- 

 abled to pass 

 from the cur- 

 rant or goose- 

 fa e r r y bushes 

 back to the 

 pines. If we 

 destroy the cur- 

 rant and goose- 

 fa e r r y bushes 

 we prevent the 

 disease from 



as a destructive fruit pest, and the pink boll worm of infecting our white pines. Hence, improfaafale as it ap- 



cotton, from Mexico, which is capable of making the pears to the uninitiated, the salvation of these magnifi- 



best efforts of the cotton boll weevil appear puny in cent trees depends to a large degree on whether people 



comparison. The life stories of some of these pests, as are willing to forego the luxury of currant jelly and 



unfolded by years of study on the part of patient scien- gooseberry jam. Congress has passed a literacy test 



