CHAPTER XIII. 



THE " DAMPING OFF " OF SEEDLING TREES : 



Phytopkthora omnivora. 



IT may possibly be objected that the subject of the 

 present chapter cannot properly be brought under the 

 title of this book, since the disease to be discussed is 

 not a disease of timber in esse but only of timber in 

 posse ; nevertheless, while acknowledging the validity 

 of the objection, I submit that in view of the fact that 

 the malady to be described effects such important 

 damage to the young plants of several of our timber- 

 trees, and that it is a type of a somewhat large class 

 of diseases, the slight inconsistency in the wording of 

 the general title may be overlooked. 



It has long been known to forest nurserymen that, 

 when the seedling beeches first appear above the 

 ground, large numbers of them die off in a peculiar 

 manner they are frequently said to "damp off" or 



