63 



Doctor Morris, Mr. Bixby, Doctor Deming, for a brief discussion 

 on the points just touched on by Mr. VoUertsen. 



The Secretary: I have had very Uttle experience with the 

 bhght. Two years ago Mr. Bixby and I visited the very large 

 hazels in Bethel, Connecticut, seedlings raised from grocery store 

 nuts, and we saw there the blight on some of the largest trees, on 

 the large limbs, unquestionable blight with sunken areas covered 

 with pustules. I didn't see the trees last year, but on Wednesday, just 

 before taking the train to come here, I ran in to this place to get a 

 bunch of hazels to bring here, and I saw the tree on which Mr. 

 Bixby and I had found the blight looking as well as ever. In a 

 hasty examination of the tree I saw one or two stubs where large 

 limbs had been cut off. I presume that the owner had followed our 

 advice and had cut off the blighted limb and, apparently, the tree 

 itself was none the worse for the blight. 



I have had hazels planted and neglected for twelve or thirteen 

 years and this is the first year in which I have found the blight. I 

 have found before other causes of death of parts of the shrubs, 

 girdling by insects and apparent winter killing, but this year I found 

 several of my trees on which were undoubted patches of crypto- 

 sporella. That is the extent of my experience with the blight. 



Mr. Jones : I have not had any actual experience with the 

 blight but I have seen it in Connecticut. I have not found it on any 

 of the wild hazels of Pennsylvania. Therefore we do not have it at 

 Lancaster. I have not regarded it as nearly as serious as pear blight 

 and some other blights that attack fruit trees. 



The President : What is that, Mr. Jones ? 



Mr. Jones : I say I have not regarded the filbert blight as 

 nearly as deadly as some of the blights that attack the fruit trees, 

 because of the fact that it works very slowly, and it takes, I under- 

 stand, about two years to girdle a limb of any size; therefore, it is 

 easily cut out and controlled. 



Mr. Corsan : Could it be that the blight would be very much 

 more active in a tree growing in the shade than on one growing out 

 in the strong sunlight and well nourished? 



Mr. Vollertsen : I know of some trees that were for at least 

 ten or eleven years practically overgrown by butternut trees. I 

 have known the trees for more than thirty years. I visited the place 

 about a week ago and found a tree doing fairly well under the cir- 

 cumstances. That tree is between thirty and forty years old and 

 has grown steadily for the last five or six years entirely in the shade 

 and is bearing fruit fairly well. There were quite a few nuts on it 

 although there were more over the top than on the lower branches ; 

 but I did not notice any dead limbs or anything of that kind. 



The President: Do you refer to Doctor Mandel's plant? 



Mr. Vollertsen : No. 



