White Pines of Lenox Menaced 



REPORTS of the general prevalence of white pine 

 blister rust in the vicinity of Lenox, Massachusetts, 

 have aroused deep concern for the safety of the 

 white pine trees that contribute so largely to the notable 

 beauty of this aristocratic centre of the Berkshires. Dur- 

 ing May and June of this year, many infected white pines 

 of all sizes and ages were found in this region. The 

 limits of the area of infected pines are represented in the 

 accompanying sketch by the solid heavy line. Small trees 

 were destroyed, and the diseased branches of larger trees 

 were cut and burnel. Since some of these trees had 

 diseased 

 branches, 60 or 

 70 feet above the 

 ground, this was 

 not an easy task. 

 Late in May the 

 early summer 

 stage of the blis- 

 ter rust began to 

 appear on the 

 leaves of cur-, 

 rants and goose- 

 berries, and be- 

 fore the end of 

 June, the late 

 summer form 

 (the stage 

 which, in the 

 fall, infects 

 neighboring 

 white pine 

 trees) was 

 found. 



The territory 

 in which cur- 

 rants and goose- 

 berries are now 

 infected with the 

 blister rust is 

 outlined on the 

 map by the 

 heavy dotted 

 line. Scouting 

 for the blister 

 rust is being done 

 by a force of 

 men working 

 under a coopera- 

 tive agreement 

 between the 

 ]M a s s a chusetts 

 State Nursery 

 Inspection Ser- 

 vice and the 

 472 



United States Department of Agriculture. Under the 

 authority of the Massachusetts law, the diseased currants 

 and gooseberries are being eradicated by State employees 

 as rapidly as possible. The area in which affected bushes 

 have been removed is shown on the sketch by the broken 

 line. The magnitude of this work lies chiefly in the 

 time and labor necessary to locate and exterminate 

 the wild currants and gooseberries that grow in the 

 woods by thousands. 



Conditions last spring in an infected area near 

 Ipswich, Mass., have demonstrated that there is no hope 



for white pine 

 trees that have 

 been long ex- 

 posed to the 

 spores, blister 

 rust maturing 

 on nearby cur- 

 rant and goose- 

 berry bushes. 



For the first 

 two or three 

 years after a 

 wliite pine tree 

 is infected with 

 this fungus, the 

 presence of the 

 disease may not 

 b e apparent, 

 but its effects 

 are just as 

 deadly as the 

 action of chest- 

 nut blight on 

 chestnut trees. 



Alany noted 

 writers have 

 extolled the 

 charms of the 

 trees of Lenox. 

 Henry \\'ard 

 P) e ec h e r a d - 

 m i r e d them 

 a n d in his 

 " Star Papers " 

 writes : " Our 

 first excursion 

 in Lenox was 

 one of saluta- 

 tion to our no- 

 table trees. We 

 had a nerv- 

 ous anxiety to 

 see that the ax 

 had not hewn. 



MAP OF LENOX. MASS., SHOWING AREA OF WHITE PIXE BLISTER RUST 



Boundary of area of pines infected with white pine blister rust. 



Boundary of area of currants and gooseberries infected with white pine blister rust. 



-■ — ■ — Boundary of area from which diseased currants, gooseberries and pines have been removed. 



