setts. Such bushes are a public nuisance and have been outlawed within the 

 State. Owners of these plants are urged to destroy them at once. 



Cultivation or Possession of Black Currants 

 Unlawful in Massachusetts 



••NOW. I'HEREFORE, I, Arthur \N\ Gilbert, Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture, lay virtue of the authority vested in 

 me b>' Section 27 of Chapter 128. General Laws, do hereby 

 order the destruction of all plants known as the cultivated 

 black currant fRiljes nigrum L. ) in this State and do hereby 

 declare that it shall be unlawful for any person to possess, 

 propagate, sell or ofifer for sale, these plants in the State of 

 Massachusetts." April 1, 1927. 



On account of the great economic value of white pine, and the relation of 

 the black currant to the blister rust, the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture considers the cultivated black currant an undesirable plant and recom- 

 mends its complete elimination from all States in which white pine is an im- 

 portant forest or ornamental tree. 



HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE CULTIVATED 

 BLACK CURRANT 



The black currant looks like the ciimuKin garden red currant in general ap- 

 pearance, but. as a rule, it is a larger and more vigorous bush. The fruit is 

 black, as the name indicates. The leaves are thinner and more sharply 

 pointed than those of the red currant, and the lower surface of the black 

 currant leaf is covered with tin\- Ijright dots, yellowish in color. The leaves 

 and stems, when crushed, give ofi' a strong spicy odor. 



WHAT TO DO 



It has been conclusively demonstrated during the past ten years that under 

 ordinary forest conditions in the eastern United States, white pine forests suf- 

 fer no further appreciable damage fnim lilister rust if all currant and goose- 

 berry bushes in and around white pines are eradicated. In addition. ALL 

 culti^■ated black currants must be destroyed, even though they are several 

 miles from white pine trees. 



