112 



refer to the disease known as an unjust and unscientific manner 

 of taxing timber lands, and to the disease known as forest fires. 

 Here are two diseases wbicli tlireaten to destroy not only chest- 

 nut trees, but all of our forest trees. These diseases threaten 

 not only to destroy our standing trees but to prevent, or make 

 useless, the planting and growth of any forest trees. These 

 diseases are not Avell-known diseases which are beyond our con- 

 trol. They are entirely within the control of human agents, and 

 I would be grateful if I could impress upon the mind of every 

 member in attendance upon this Convention that if we could 

 only control the forest fires and bring about a jnst, scientific, 

 and uniform system of taxing forest land, and then go ahead and 

 plant trees, trees immune from this dreaded disease, pine trees, 

 oak trees, hickory trees, p()i)lar trees, valuable timber trees, we 

 would have so many timber trees flourishing in the State of 

 Pennsylvania that it really would not matter a very great deal if 

 we had no more chestnut trees. We could possibly get along 

 without them. (Applause). 



MK. r. B'. JEWETT, of Susquehanna county. Pa. : Mr. Chair- 

 man and Gentlemen: I came to the City of Harrisburg to-day 

 not particularly to attend this Convention ; but, when I arrived 

 here and the programme was thrust before me, every other item of 

 my business stopped, and I have attended ymw meetings and 

 have been very much interested. 



The first dollar that I ever remember of having in my life was 

 derived from the chestnut tree, half a century ago, when, as a 

 little boy, I picked up the chestnuts. I have been very much in- 

 terested in every phase of the discussion, because, like the gentle- 

 man over here, I have several acres that have chestnut trees on 

 them. In this evening's lecture there was thrown on the canvas 

 a view of the harvest of that chestnut orchard in Irish Valiey, 

 near Sliamokin, and in the i)ictnre I noticed the green burrs 

 were harvested. The question that I wish to ask, if Professor 

 Davis is present, is, how they coiild get those green burrs off 

 from the trees without injuring them? All those that have 

 knowledge from experience know that it is almost impossible to 

 get a green bnrr from its native branch until the frost comes 

 and kills the connection between the burr and the branch. I 



