177 

 United States Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 Office of Chief of Bureau. 



Washington, D. C., February 19, 1912. 

 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY. 



Regarding present status of chestnut bark disease. 



This disease, which was first recognized as serious in the 

 vicinity of New York City in 1904, appears to have been present 

 on Long Island as early as 1893. Its origin is unknown, but 

 there is some evidence to indicate that it was imported from 

 the orient with the Japanese chestnut. In southwestern Con- 

 necticut, southeastern New York and northeastern New Jersey 

 a majority of the chestnut trees are already dead from the bark 

 disease. Outside of this area in western Connecticut, eastern New 

 York, western New Jersey, southeastern Pennsylvania, northern 

 Delaware, and northeastern Maryland the chestnut trees are 

 practically all infected. Outside of this area from the northern 

 border of Massachusetts and from Saratoga county, New York, 

 south westward to the western border of Pennsylvania and the 

 southern border of Virginia, scattering areas of infection are 

 known to occur and may be expected at any point. So far as is 

 known the disease is limited to the true chestnuts and chinqua- 

 pins. It is not certainly known to occur on oaks, beeches, horse 

 chestnuts, or other forest trees. 



The bark disease appears ultimately to exterminate the chest- 

 nut trees in any locality which it infests. The financial loss 

 from this disease in and about New York City was estimated 

 three years ago at between five and ten million dollars. A conser- 

 vative estimate made in 1911 by the experts in the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry indicates a loss in the states infected, up to that 

 time, of twenty-five million dollars. The heaviest damage thus 

 far has been to chestnut trees in localities where this species 

 is grown chiefly for ornamental purposes, rather than for lum- 

 ber. It has now reached a point in its spread where the entire 

 chestnut timber belt of the United States, comprising portions 



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