THE CHESTNUT 65 



in the desert and plateau regions of the Middle 

 West may serve as a barrier. 



The precise origin of the fungus that causes 

 the disease was not known until the summer of 

 1913, when it was discovered by Mr. Frank N. 

 Meyer, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, that the fungus (which bears the 

 name Endothia parasitica) is indigenous to 

 China. The oriental chestnut trees have be- 

 come practically immune to it, however, and it 

 does not destroy them, but merely blemishes 

 their bark here and there with canker spots. No 

 one knows just how the disease found its way to 

 the United States, but it may have come on 

 lumber brought from the Orient. 



The appearance of this pest came as a very 

 discouraging factor just at a time when interest 

 in the chestnut as a commercial proposition was 

 being thoroughly aroused. Government bul- 

 letins had called attention to the value of its nut 

 and its possibility as a paying crop. 



But, of course, all expectations were nullified 

 in the regions where the ravages of the chestnut 

 fungus are felt. 



Fortunately, it appears that some of the 

 hybrid races that bear the oriental strain are 

 immune to the disease. Reports show that 

 hybrids between the Japanese chestnut and the 



C Bur. VoL 8 



