82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



Conditions found. — The blister rust, either on pines, cur- 

 rants and gooseberries, or on both, was found in 209 towns and 

 cities. Infected pines were found in 45 towns, 3 of which were 

 only suspicious places. Infected currants (or gooseberries) 

 were found in 205 towns, the number of bushes infected rang- 

 ing from one to thousands. 



Three large areas in the State appear to have continuous in- 

 fection. These may be termed the Berkshire, the Essex and 

 the Plymouth County areas. In the first area diseased pines 

 were found in 8 towns; in the second, in 13; and in the third, 

 in 11. The other pine infections are isolated spots. 



The Berkshire area may be described as occupying the south- 

 west corner of the State and extending north to or into the 

 towns of Hancock, Pittsfield and Washington, thence along the 

 line of the Boston & Albany Railroad east nearly to Westfield, 

 then turning south through Southwick to the State line. Some 

 of the towns next outside this line have infections, but most 

 at least of these can be traced to sources outside the area above 

 indicated. 



The Essex area includes practically all the towns in Essex 

 County and a few in Middlesex. The towns next to this area, 

 in which no infection has been found thus far, are Salem, Pea- 

 body, Lynn, Saugus, Maiden, Winchester, Stoneham, Woburn, 

 Burlington, Billerica, Lowell and Dracut. 



In the Plymouth area the most northerly towns found in- 

 fected are Bellingham, Franklin, Norfolk, Walpole, Canton, 

 Milton and Quincy; and from here to the Rhode Island line. 

 Buzzards Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on the east, every town 

 has more or less infection, though the places where the disease 

 is present are often considerably distant from each other, so 

 that the southern limit of the continuously infected area is 

 probably from the eastern edge of Fall River north to the 

 northern edge of Middleborough, 'thence easterly to the shore, 

 at the southern edge of Kingston. 



The other places where infections occur can for the most 

 part be traced to plantations of diseased pines started a num- 

 ber of years ago, from which the trouble has spread locally. 

 In some cases currant infection, far from any pines found 

 diseased, have been the cause of much perplexity, but will 



