228 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 5 



stock. Mr. A. B. Brooks of W. Va., found near the center of the 

 State a tree in an advanced stage of this disease. He had the tree 

 destroyed, made a very thorough search all through that locality, 

 but could not find any other cases. He followed the matter up and 

 found that the tree had been brought from a nursery near Philadel- 

 phia. That diseased tree, was, so far as we know, about 100 miles 

 from any other diseased tree and was right in the heart of some of the 

 best chestnut timber in West Virginia, — and that shows one of the 

 most prolific ways in which the disease has unquestionably spread. 



Mr. Norton: Is there any chance that this disease spreads more 

 rapidly or causes more damage in the North than in the South? 



Mr. Metcalf: It unquestionably has so far, but it started in 

 the north: it is spreading as rapidly in Maryland as in Massachusetts. 

 However, there is little basis at present for believing that it will slow 

 down as it moves south or west. 



Mr. Surface: I would like to ask how it is found on any trees 

 and if it is sufficient to destroy those possibly infected? 



Mr. Metcalf: The disease is clearly obvious on large trees. 

 Of course, when you find the disease on nursery stock, there is nothing 

 to do but destroy it. 



Mr. Norton: Do you think it would be advisable to stop the 

 propagation of stock from infected nurseries? 



Mr. Metcalf: I think so decidedly. An absolute quarantine 

 should be put on infected nursery stock. I have not the slightest 

 doubt that this disease has been transmitted to orchards in the West 

 and on the Pacific Coast, although we have no positive evidence of 

 that. 



Mr Hopkins: Doctor Metcalf 's remarks about the relation of 

 insects to the chestnut blight, I am sorry to say, brings the Divi- 

 sion of Forest Insects of the Bureau of Entomology into the trouble. 

 This chestnut disease problem has reached a point where it is absolutely 

 necessary to know something about the relations of insects to the 

 disease and to the dying of the chestnut. It is our plan to make a 

 very thorough investigation to determine some of the fundamental 

 facts about the insects to serve as a basis for conclusions and recom- 

 mendations relating to methods of combating those which kill the 

 trees on their own account and those which contribute to the spread 

 and development of the disease. 



Certain insects are known to be the cause of the death of chestnut 

 trees and undoubtedly they have been killing some of the trees within 

 the present areas affected by the disease. 



I made some studies of the insects affecting chestnut trees in West 

 Virginia between 1894 and 1901, and to some extent since my con- 



