109 



a great deal of interest to tlie results which may be accomplished 

 through this work, T caiiie iij) licrc for tlie purpose of listening. 

 I want to hear what lias been done. I li<)])c(l tliat we might have 

 some definite cases where the chestnut bark disease liad been 

 eradicated from specific spots. It should be remembered at 

 this time that, Pennsylvania has only taken it up recently. There 

 has been less than a year's operation of the new law and of 

 course, we cannot expect very extensive results, but it seems to 

 me, and it has already been pointed out by a number of speakers, 

 that there is the necessity at this time of treating individual 

 trees and of keeping an accurate record of them, so that we will 

 know exactly what we may expect in the way of eradicating the 

 disease. Professor Clinton has spoken of certain diseased trees 

 that were cut out, and he mentioned the fact that the bark was 

 left on the stumps. We know absolutely iJhat where the bark is 

 left on the stump of a diseased tree, in which the spores very na- 

 turally work down the tree we are pretty apt to And them around 

 the base; so, of course, we cannot consider that a very effective 

 way of treating the tree, or a fair test of the cutting-out process. 

 What we want to find out is where somebody has treated a tree, 

 cut the tree out, then destroyed the bark, and kept a record of 

 that for some years, two or three years, possibly, to see if there 

 is any recurrence of the infection. I was talking with Dr. Met- 

 calf sometime ago along that line and he says that, in the vicinity 

 of Washington, they have for the past two or three years carried 

 on a rather extensive campaign for the detection and eradication 

 of the disease, and I think I am correct in the statement that he 

 has located certain spots, eut the disease out, and there has not 

 been a recurrence of the disease. T should much prefer to have 

 that statement come from Br. iNfefcalf, or somebody from the 

 Rureau of Plant Industry; but, if that is the case, this Confer- 

 ence ought fo know about it, because it seems to me there is a 

 ray of hope there that we may be able to combat this disease. 

 There is, of course, as shown by this Conference, a general in- 

 terest in this bark disease, and I cannot help but believe that a 

 Conference of this sort is going to lead to very productive re- 

 sults. The interest in Maryland is a very important one. We 

 realize that it is necessary for us to do something noiv, if w^e are 

 going to do anything at all. We find that the disease has spread 



