THE FIGHT AGAINST THE PINE BLISTER DISEASE 



Congress and States to Be Asked for Appropriations and for Authority to Enforce Stringent 



Quarantine Regulations. The Situation in the Various States and an Outline 



of What Should Be Done in the Campaign Against the Disease 



THE fight against the blister disease which threatens 

 to exterminate the white and other five-leaved 

 pines of the United States and Canada is steadily 

 progressing. 



A bill is to be presented to Congress asking for $500,000 

 for the Department of Agriculture to use in investigation, 

 scouting, and in cooperation with the states, in determin- 

 ing the presence of and in eradicating the disease. 



Another bill will ask that Congress give the Federal 

 Horticultural Board authority to declare a quarantine in 

 any state or district where the members deem such a 

 quarantine is necessary to prevent infection. 



Massachusetts is asking its State Legislature for 

 $60,000 to fight the disease and other states are preparing 

 to demand appropriations and to authorize quarantines. 



The American Forestry Association is conducting a 

 nation-wide publicity cam- 

 paign to acquaint the people 

 with the dangers of the blister 

 disease and with the neces- 

 sity for immediate action in 

 the effort to retard its progress 

 and if possible to stamp it out. 



Governors of various states 

 and of provinces of Canada 

 have appointed delegations to 

 attend the International For- 

 estry Conference at Washing- 

 ton, D. C, January 18 and 19, 

 on the occasion of the thirty- 

 seventh annual meeting of the 

 American Forestry Association, 

 to discuss measures for com- 

 bating the disease ; many coop- 

 erating organizations have also 

 appointed delegates to attend 

 this meeting, and members of 

 the Association and kindred or- 

 ganizations from all sections of 

 North America will be present. 

 Following the addresses, 

 discussions and conferences 

 there will be immediate na- 

 tional and state legislative 

 activity in the endeavor to 

 secure the passage of the nec- 

 essary appropriation and quar- 

 antine bills. Officials of va- 

 rious states where the infection has been found are now 

 preparing bills for submission to the legislatures, many of 

 which convene in January, while in other states where no 

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I WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO FIGHT | 

 THE PINE BLISTER DISEASE 



1. A Federal quarantine against the impor- j 

 j tation of white pine from Europe was established | 

 | in 1912, and last year the Federal Horticultural j 

 j Board requested nurserymen in the East not to | 

 j ship white pine, currants, or gooseberries west j 

 | of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, | 

 | Oklahoma, and Texas. This request is known | 

 j to have been disregarded in at least ten cases, j 

 | Canadian white pine stock was excluded last j 

 | winter. A limited number of states have also I 

 | established quarantines against the importation 

 | of white pine stock from outside states. 



2. A considerable amount of publicity has | 

 | been given by Federal and State agencies, the | 

 | American Forestry Association, and other I 

 | associations to the prevalence and spread of | 

 | the disease and its possible results. 



3. A large amount of scouting has been done | 

 | by Federal and State agencies within the areas | 

 | of possible infection. 



4. A large amount of eradication of diseased | 

 | currant and gooseberry bushes and white pine j 

 j has been done in the New England states, but j 

 | much remains to be done. Complete eradica- | 

 j tion east of the Hudson River is probably not j 

 | possible. West of the Hudson River practically | 

 | all of the infections found have beeD destroyed, j 



5. The Forest Service last year, after learn- 1 

 | ing of the seriousness of the situation, prohibited | 

 | the use within the National Forests of white pine i 

 | and currant and gooseberry stock from Eastern j 

 I nurseries. 



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infection has appeared, but where there is a growth of 

 white or five-leaved pine which may be infected, state 

 officials are preparing to take the necessary steps to give 

 authority for such quarantine regulations as are needed 

 under the circumstances. 



A general resume" of the introduction of the disease 

 into this country, its spread, the present situation, and 

 the needs for the future are here given: 



The white pine blister disease has made impracticable 

 the growing of the American white pine in Denmark, Holland, 

 and England, and has seriously interfered with its culture 

 in Germany. All the five-leaf pines of the United States 

 have been shown to be susceptible to the disease, and the 

 conditions favorable forits spread have been found in all re- 

 gions where these pines grow. Although no personal investi- 

 gation has been made in Europe by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, indica- 

 tions are strong that American 

 conditions.particularlyclimate, 

 and currant and gooseberry 

 hosts, are more favorable to 

 the disease than conditions in 

 Europe. The disease has al- 

 ready become a very serious 

 menace in one of the three 

 great white pine regions in the 

 United States. The white pines, 

 because of their wide distribu- 

 tion, the proportion and high 

 values of their woods, their 

 rapid growth, merchantability 

 at an early age, resistance to 

 brown-tail and gypsy moth, 

 and ability to thrive on poor 

 soils and under adverse condi- 

 tions, are among our most val- 

 uable forest trees, considering 

 both present conditions and 

 the possibility of future 

 production. 



Two years ago the disease 

 was known to be present only 

 in very restricted localities, 

 where it had been introduced 

 directly on European nursery 

 stock, mostly from Germany. 

 It has spread rapidly. 



In Maine five infected 

 plantings and one infected nursery have been located ; in 

 every case the disease has spread to native pine. On cur- 

 rants and gooseberries the disease is generally distributed 



