CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE. 15 



and while many experiments of interest have been performed no 

 very definite progress, in our opinion, has been made in discover- 

 ing successful and practical measures of control. 



Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia are expending small 

 sums on locating points of infection with an idea of possibly 

 removing the scattered areas of infection at a later date if the 

 success of such treatment shall seem to warrant it. The chest- 

 nut in New Jersey and Delaware has been so nearly destroyed 

 that little work of any kind has been undertaken. 



HISTORICAL CONSIDERATION. 



The chestnut blight was first noticed in the New York Zoologi- 

 cal Park by H. W. Merkel in the summer of 1904. In 1905 it 

 was so serious that measures were taken to control it, and the 

 first description of the trouble was published in the report of 

 the New York Zoological Society for that year. From a botani- 

 cal standpoint the first work was done by W. A. Murrill of the 

 New York Botanical Garden in 1906. Shortly after MurrnTs 

 work the study of the blight was taken up by Clinton of this 

 Station and by Metcalf and Collins of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Since then many investigators have become 

 interested in the study of this disease and the opinions and dis- 

 coveries have been nearly as numerous as the investigators. 



RANGE AND CONDITIONS OF GROWTH. 



Chestnut ranges from southern New Hampshire south to 

 Georgia and Alabama. Connecticut is near the northern limit 

 of its range, which accounts for the decrease in per cent, of 

 this species toward the northern part of the state and on the 

 cool northern slopes. 



It occurs nearly pure on medium to deep well-drained sites, 

 but on the drier ridges and in the swamps it is crowded out of 

 the stand by species better adapted to the conditions. This 

 tree requires direct light and forms a wide spreading tree in 

 the open, while in the forest the demand for light causes 

 increased height growth, forming a clear full-boled tree. Chest- 

 nut sprouts very abundantly, even when the tree cut is 100 

 years or more in age. The nuts are largely eaten, but a few 

 are scattered by the birds and animals which accounts for the 

 numerous seedling trees to be seen in abandoned fields. The 



