264 ANNUAL. REPORTS OP DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



spread alarm, and so manj^ calls for help and advice on this subject 

 have been made by both State officers ana private citizens that during 

 the past year a great deal of time has been devoted to this subject. 

 Since whatever is done to control this disease must apparently be 

 done within the next three years, the work on the general diseases of 

 ornamental and shade trees has been suspended for the time being, 

 as well as all work in the East on the damping-off diseases; and 

 many minor features of other projects have been curtailed in order 

 to apply more time and money to the study of the chestnut bark 

 disease. 



The methods of quarantine and destruction of advance infections 

 advocated by this bureau have been put into execution in the State 

 of Pennsylvania, where an adequate appropriation has been made 

 by the State for the work; and if the results of the cooperative work 

 now going on in Massachusetts, Ehode Island, New York, and Mary- 

 land indicate that the disease has not spread too far it is probable 

 that similar work will soon be organized in those States. 



Plans for the present year involve a continuation of the work 

 already begun, namely (1) extensive field and laborator}' studies of 

 the nature and spread of the disease, (2) cooperative surveys of the 

 various States to determine the practicability of an organized stand 

 against the disease, and (3) studies of possible methods of curing 

 individual trees already affected. Plans for next year are to further 

 continue this same work, as may be found necessary, but with par- 

 ticular reference to the Southern States, since it is imperative that, 

 if possible, the disease be prevented from spreading south of the 

 Potomac River. 



A Farmers' Bulletin on this subject is now in press and a technical 

 bureau bulletin ready for press. 



Blister rust of the white pine. — Work on the blister rust of 

 white pine, under the immediate direction of Dr. Perley Spaulding, 

 has continued with success, since, so far as can be ascertained, the 

 disease has not even yet obtained a permanent foothold in the United 

 States. But importations of diseased stock are still freely made. 

 It is obvious, therefore, that work on this disease must continue until 

 the importation of nursery stock of this species is prohibited by law. 

 No other entirely practicable method of dealing with this disease 

 has been suggested. 



Forest hygiene. — Work on forest hygiene has been carried on 

 for several years by Dr. George G. Hedgcock. The preliminary 

 work indicated, as previously reported, that great reduction of dis- 

 ease in forests and decay in cut timber can be made by certain modifi- 

 cations and refinements of current forest practice and wood-preser- 

 vation methods. Work on this basis, in close cooperation with the 

 Forest Service, has now been carried on for more than a year. In 

 district 5 of the Forest Service Dr. E. P. Meinecke has been par- 

 ticularly successful in bringing about changes in timber-sale con- 

 tracts, involving the routine destruction of diseased trees, so that 

 only healthy trees are left to be progenitors of the future forest. 

 This Avork will be extended to districts 1, 2, and 3. From the locat- 

 ing of an expert forest pathologist in each of the national districts 

 much is to be expected, particularly in the suppression of new or 

 imported diseases. For example, if the chestnut bark disease had 



