382 
Udine. Until the war, control meas- 
ures were enforced. Quarantine of 
the infected localities and destruction 
of diseased trees were exactingly 
carried out. 
Now the blight has full sway. War 
and the consequences of war have 
made it impossible to organize the 
control necessary to check it. 
There is an old Indian myth which 
tells the story of an Iroquois boy who 
braved the perils of a deep chasm in 
the earth, wild animals, a serpent, and 
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1948 
a woman whose single penetrating 
glance would kill, to find magic chest- 
nuts. He brought back a bagful of the 
precious nuts and, going up on the 
side hills, scattered them over the 
ground. Soon beautiful chestnut trees 
grew up and, the story concludes, 
“now all the world has chestnuts.” 
This is no longer true, but perhaps if 
our plant breeders can brave the perils 
of governmental economy we may 
some day give resistant chestnuts to 
all the world. 
