CONNECTICUT EXPERIMENT STATION REPORT, IQI2. 



the state has been dying out a few trees at a time. * * * Trees 

 in the hollows and on cool north slopes and on land where a 

 moderately dense shade and soil cover exist have not been 

 affected. * * * The dying off of the trees is certainly not 

 due to the chestnut bark disease." Local conditions such as 

 outcrop of rocks, depth and character of soil, water table, 

 presence of streams, exposure, etc., are all factors in the regula- 

 tion of soil moisture,* and are not always easily determined by 

 superficial examination. We *do know that the blight often 

 acts quite differently with these conditions varying in the same 

 vicinity. 



It is often hard to distinguish drought injury from winter 

 injury, as trees that have suffered from severe droughts with- 

 out much outward evidence of the trouble often succumb dur- 

 ing the following winter, and winter injury is given the entire 

 blame. This was well illustrated after the drought of 1911, 

 by a number of fine large chestnut trees on the Experiment 

 Station grounds. The drought of 1911, following the pre- 

 ceding dry years, was very hard on certain of these trees, as 

 the rock in spots comes very close to the surface. The result 

 was that, following the winter of 1911-12 they were seen to 

 be very badly injured at their base, the dead bark in some cases 

 almost entirely encircling the trees. On one tree this dead bark 

 ran up the side for a considerable distance. A little of the 

 blight fungus showed on these injured areas shortly afterward, 

 but it was entirely a secondary factor. 



There can be no question whatever that these droughts have 

 injured various trees; and there is no getting around the fact 

 that the blight has been more prevalent because of these 

 droughts, and seems to have gotten the credit for injury to the 

 chestnuts that is in part due to the droughts. Most persons 

 admit that drought has injured and killed many trees other 

 than the chestnut, yet are reluctant to concede that anything 

 but the blight is responsible for the death of the latter. The 

 injury by drought is well illustrated by the death of trees in 



* We understand that, due to the installation of a large water reservoir 

 in the southwestern part of Long Island, the water table of the surround- 

 ing region has been lowered considerably. This in turn has severely 

 affected the forest trees, among which are many chestnuts. The blight is 

 quite bad in this region. 



