10(5 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



That all merchantable stands of chestnut in Pennsylvania will be 

 killed is now conceded, even by the most conservative. This does not 

 imply that the chestnut as a species is doomed. Hodson^, page 3, may 

 be on the right track by suggesting a special study of the present situa- 

 tion of chestnut blight on the hypothesis "that the chestnut is develop- 

 ing by natural process, immunity to the blight through struggle with 

 it." There may still be a ray of hope for the chestnut. Probably the 

 malady will generate its own anti-toxin. Existing conditions show, 

 however, that all merchantable stands of chestnut in Pennsylvania are 

 now dead or dying or will be killed in the near future. A number of 

 things must be done to meet the situation. The first step necessary 

 to take is the salvaging of all merchantable chestnut by prompt and 

 proper utilization. Ziegler^, page 3, writes that "the first problem and 

 the one that has been delayed too long by practically every chestnut 

 timber-land owner, is one of immediate utilization. ... A failure 

 to get out the dead material will subject the forests of southern Penn- 

 sylvania to a fire hazard that could easily ruin a large part of the other 

 forest species left in them." It is imperative that an efifective program 

 of utilization be put into practice right now, and it should extend to 

 all chestnut stands, not only to the dead, dying and damaged trees, 

 but also to those which are still healthy, but will soon fall victim to 

 this powerful disease. 



But immediate and proper utilization alone will not clear up the 

 situation satisfactorily. More is required, for the disappearance of 

 the chestnut has created vacancies in the forests which must not remain. 

 They must be filled up. The chestnut must be replaced with other 

 valuable trees. In outlining and developing a proper course for action 

 two major questions present themselves for consideration and deserve 

 immediate attention, namely : 



(a) What is nature doing to replace the chestnut; that is, to what 

 extent and in what manner are the chestnut vacancies being filled up 

 naturally ? 



(b) What must man do to supplement nature's efforts to replace 

 the chestnut? 



A preliminary studv of the problem shows that there are many 

 replacement factors which influence the conversion of extinct and 



'Hodson, E. R. Is American Chestnut Developing Immunity to the Blight? 

 Journal of Forestry, Vol. XVIII, No. 7, November, 1920. 



'' Zeigler. E. A. Problems Arising from the Loss of Our Chestnut. Forest 

 Leaves, August. 1920. 



