108 



is reserved to be given us tomorrow morning, whether there is 

 any data to show what the expense is to cut out, remove and take 

 up the infected chestnut trees where the blight is known to be 

 working. 



MR. I. C. AVILLIAMS: In answer to the gentleman's ques- 

 tion, I would like to say that the Chestnut Blight Commis- 

 sion has no data at hand which will answer him directly. The 

 work of the Commission has not been speciflcially directed to 

 cutting out diseased trees, but has been in the direction of urg- 

 ing persons to do that. It has not been possible to follow that 

 work sufficiently closely to make an approximation of just what 

 that cost would be. The effort that is being made in Pennsyl- 

 vania will be more minutely described to-morrow morning, and 

 I do not feel that it would be fair to trespass seriously upon 

 that paper this evening; but what evidence there is, and what 

 knowledge we have on that subject, will be laid before you in 

 the morning in the first paper. 



Some of the speakers this afternoon seemed to be utterly ap- 

 palled at the fact that Pennsylvania has thrown two hundred 

 and seventy-five thousand dollars into a rathole. Now it may 

 be of interest to this meeting at this time to realize that the 

 whole work thus far accomplished by this Commission has been 

 at an expense of twenty thousand one hundred and forty-three 

 dollars. That leaves a considerable margin of the two hundred 

 and seventy-five thousand dollars upon which we are privileged 

 to go until the first of June, 1913. (Applause). 



This Commission is built upon business principles. It is not 

 being dashed about wildly, like a potato in a tub, not know- 

 ing what it 'is doing or where it is going. It is trying to find 

 its way. It may be that it will get lost in the blighted chestnut 

 woods, but we are going to make an honest endeavor to get out 

 of the woods. Every known method, and a lot of methods that 

 are not known and about which we heard a good deal this after- 

 noon, will be tried. If there is any virtue in them, they will 

 be followed to a finality. If there is no virtue in them, we want 

 the world to know it, the sooner the better. The mere fact that 

 somebody believes that something cannot be done is going to 

 have mighty little weight in the work of this Commission. (Ap- 

 plause). We do not care a rap what someone's belief is. If he 



