CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE. 379 



not find any one that wanted cordwood that had been split and 

 stacked while clearing part of the property three years ago." 



The type of damage so far mentioned, however, is incon- 

 spicuous in this state as compared with the loss that occurs 

 through the death of trees which are not yet fit for commercial 

 purposes and can be used only for cordwood. The market for 

 the latter in certain districts is easily satisfied. This means low 

 prices or long storage. The greatest loss is caused where future 

 profits are entirely cut out by the death of half grown 

 trees and sprout growth too small for present use. If the 

 disease progresses in the future as actively as in the past, the 

 prospects of our chestnut forests are very poor indeed. This 

 means serious loss, for the chestnut is one of the most useful 

 forest trees in all parts of the country where it occurs. 



Besides the loss from a commercial point of view, there is 

 'the damage caused to the shade and ornamental trees, and to 

 groves kept on estates, parks, etc., for aesthetic rather than 

 practical purposes. To estimate the damage here is impossible. 



In the United States. Certain writers have attempted to 

 estimate in money value the loss caused by the blight. Just 

 how this loss is estimated is not made very clear. To the 

 writer it seems to be largely guess work. However, it is 

 interesting to note these figures in order to compare them with 

 losses given for other fungous diseases and insects. Murrill 

 (49) in 1908 estimated the damage in and about New York 

 City between five and ten million dollars. Mickleborough (40) 

 about the same time estimated the damage through the country 

 at not less than ten million dollars, while in 1909 he (41, p. 14) 

 wrote: "The damage already done in the states of New York, 

 Pennsylvania and New Jersey, would not be less than twelve 

 million dollars." Metcalf and Collins (38) gave twenty-five 

 million dollars as a conservative estimate of the financial loss 

 to the country up to 1911. Detwiler (19, p. 130) estimates the 

 loss in Pennsylvania alone as ten million dollars, allowing seven 

 million for forest and three million for ornamental trees. The 

 largest estimate that we have seen is that given by Marlatt 

 (31, p. 345), who said in 1911: "It is estimated that the loss 

 in and about the City of New York is now between five and 

 ten million dollars, and the loss throughout the area now 

 infested is fully one hundred million dollars." 



