00 



would appear that the question of immunity can have practically 

 no direct or immediate bearing upon the saving of our forest 

 chestnut trees. 



At the present time there is every prospect that we can rea- 

 sonably expect to procure immune pure bred varieties or species 

 of chestnuts from northern Asia and Japan. Indeed, we already 

 know that some of the Japanese and Korean chestnuts are al- 

 most, if not quite, immune to the disease. I think it is safe to 

 say, w r here Japanese varieties have been killed by this disease, 

 that in more than ninety per cent, of the cases which have come 

 under our personal observation, the trees have been grafted with 

 Japanese scions on American or European stocks, and the Jap- 

 anese trees have been killed by girdling below the graft. We 

 have repeatedly observed such cases where the stock has been 

 absolutely covered with disease up to the graft line, w T ith not a 

 sign of it anywhere on the Japanese portion. Naturally, this fact 

 in itself is strong proof of the immune nature of these particular 

 Japanese varieties. As these highly resistant, or perhaps irn- 

 mune, trees are with us small, and the nuts, though often huge, 

 are of inferior quality, their value will be almost entirely as or- 

 im mental trees, and probably never, in our time at least, of any 

 value in replacing the American chestnut. If the better flavored 

 native and Paragon nuts should disappear from the market, we 

 would doubtless soon turn to the inferior Japanese nut as a sub- 

 stitute. 



In recent years much has been accomplished along the line of 

 breeding hybrids or strains of plants which are not only often 

 fine in quality, but also highly resistant to disease. The results 

 that have been attained in this direction within a comparatively 

 few years are truly gratifying, but the future will witness 

 greater results. There. is no reason to doubt that we may even- 

 tually see an immune hybrid chestnut that will rival the Ameri- 

 can sweet chestnut in flavor of the nut, and the Paragon in 

 size. 



THE CHAIKMAN: You will recall that, while we were 

 listening to the addresses in response to the remarks of Gover- 

 nor Tener, the gentleman from Connecticut stated that he had 



