P.D. 123 15 



sary in 1926. In Lawrence and vicinity with unusual cooperation of the 

 local beekeepers through their society, a limited outbreak of American foul- 

 brood is thought to have been placed under control. On the whole, bee 

 diseases in the State are far less frequent than they were in years past. 



White Pine Blister Rust 



This Division, in cooperation with the Office of Blister Rust Control, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, is conducting a state-wide cam- 

 paign to prevent the further spread of the white pine blister rust — a serious 

 plant disease — which is fatal in its attack upon white pine trees. The con- 

 trol of this disease is accomplished by the elimination of currant and goose- 

 berry bushes which are the alternate host plants of the fungus which causes 

 this disease. This campaign is being conducted on the basis of an eight- 

 year program, during which time an attempt will be made to acquaint every 

 white pine owner in the State, with the characteristics of the disease, the 

 damage it is doing, and to induce all parties concerned, to promptly perform 

 control work. This year marked the fourth under this program, and con- 

 siderable progress was made toward the accomplishment of the fundamental 

 purpose of the campaign; namely, the adequate protection of the white pine 

 in Massachusetts against further damage by this disease. 



For purposes of administration, the State was divided at the begining of 

 the campaign in the spring of 1922, into nine districts, the boundaries of 

 which largely follow along county lines. This year, work was carried on in 

 each of these nine districts except District IV Bristol-Barnstable. On 

 July 1, work was resumed in District IX Berkshire and on November 16 work 

 was initiated in District II Middlesex. The program of work as planned 

 for District I — Essex, was practically completed, a limited amount of work 

 being left for completion until the spring of 1926. 



The stage of the disease as it appears on the white pine tree, has been 

 reported in 187 towns in Massachusetts up to November 30, 1925. This 

 record represents an increase of 22 towns since the report of a year ago. 

 These figures indicate that the disease is generally distributed throughout 

 the State in local centres from which there is likely to be a gradual spread 

 unless the alternate host plants are promptly eliminated. Heavy infection 

 was found throughout the State on currant and gooseberry leaves, and a 

 number of new areas of rather serious pine infection were found in the town 

 of Sturbridge in southern Worcester County and in the towns of Ashfield, 

 Conway, and Shelburne in Franklin County. 



The principal activity of this division as its part in the cooperative pro- 

 gram, is to assist pine owners in locating such currant and gooseberry bushes 

 as may be menacing pine trees on their properties, and to furnish general 

 supervision to the task of actually up-rooting and destroying these offending 

 bushes. In this work, 29 temporary field men were employed by this division 

 during a period of about five months — May to September inclusive. These 

 men rendered assistance to 1,763 land owners in making examinations on 

 194,851 acres of land, 110,892 acres of which is producing white pine. The 

 cooperating owners expended the equivalent of $5,554.15 in this protective 

 work. From these areas 706,830 wild, and 33,610 cultivated currant and 

 gooseberry bushes were eradicated at a total average cost of 11 cents per 

 acre. 



In connection with the conduct of control work, wherever cultivated 

 currant and gooseberry bushes are so situated that they are considered likely 

 to be a menace to nearby pines, it is necessary to remove such cultivated 

 bushes, as well as the wild species. In handling this phase of the problems, 

 every effort is made to encourage owners to donate their bushes to the cause 

 of the protection of the pine and this year a very special attempt was made to 

 keep these claims down to a minimum. The law provides, however, that an 

 owner has the right to submit a claim and under the statute 23 persons have 

 submitted such claims. These relate to the removal of 980 bushes which 

 have been valued by the department at $377.10. Of these claims, 10 pertain 

 to bushes removed by this division in connection with the protection of the 



