Part I.] STATE NURSERY INSPECTOR. 89 



funds be made available for carrying on experimental investiga- 

 tions. This is necessary in order to clear up as soon as pos- 

 sible some obscure points, upon which future methods of control 

 may largely depend. The question as to whether the spores 

 will winter over on black currants needs further investigation; 

 also more definite information on the exact distance the spores 

 can be carried by the wind from pines to currants and vice 

 versa is highly desirable. Until these points can be ascertained 

 the present methods of control and eradication should be 

 vigorously pursued. 



In one regard the work on the blister rust in the State this 

 year may, in the opinion of the inspector, fairly be open to 

 criticism. The practice of cutting off infected twigs and limbs 

 on large trees, rather than cutting the entire tree, deserves 

 some explanation. It was well understood from the beginning 

 that the removal of evident infected places only on a tree would 

 be liable to result in leaving behind others not then perceptible 

 but which would develop later. Yet the primary purpose of 

 any treatment was to remove all "fruiting" places as soon as 

 possible, so that the spores would be destroyed before they 

 could scatter and reach any currants. 



The cutting-off method was made use of only where the trees 

 concerned were ornamental trees on residential estates. Else- 

 where the tree as a whole was cut. On the estates the entire 

 destruction of the infected trees would in many cases have 

 been vigorously opposed by their owners, with applications for 

 the hearings provided for by the law, and also by the issuing of 

 injunctions to prevent their being cut. While these possibilities 

 were not feared by the inspector he did greatly fear that the 

 resulting delay would permit the scattering of the spores from 

 the fruiting places without any possibility of preventing this, 

 and his first aim was to check the spread of the disease. When 

 by cutting out "fruiting" places, therefore, he could check the 

 spread of the disease, while if, on the other hand, an attempt 

 to destroy the entire tree would mean that he would be unable 

 to work on the "fruiting" places even, until too late to prevent 

 the distribution of the spores, it seemed that cutting out was 

 the best policy to pursue. 



