iiiiii 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



I VOL. XXIII 



FEBRUARY 1917 



NO. 278 1 



mill! 



THE WHITE PINE BLISTER DISEASE 



Congress asked to make an appropriation of $300,000 to provide for its eradication or 



control Experts present facts regarding the disease at the International Forestry 



Conference of the American Forestry Association The resolutions adopted. 



While the International Forestry Conference called by the American Forestry Association discussed ways and means 

 of fighting the pine blister disease which threatens the five-leaved pines of the United States and Canada, in ses- 

 sion, at Washington, D. C, January 18 and 19, 1917, Vice-President Marshall laid before the Senate an official commu- 

 nication asking for a supplemental appropriation of $300,000 to eradicate or control the disease. This communication 

 was from Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo and transmitted a letter from Secretary of Agriculture Houston asking 

 for the appropriation. It was submitted to the Senate with the signature and approval of President Wilson, was 

 referred to the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry and on February 3 the Senate adopted an amendment incor- 

 porating it in the Agriculture Appropriation Bill. 



The series of articles which follow are from addresses delivered at the Forestry Conference. 



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WHAT THE WHITE PINE BLISTER DISEASE IS 

 By Perley Spaulding, U. S. Forest Pathologist 



=7 k m 1 1 : 1 1 1 . m 1 1 1 1 : . 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 < 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 l : 1 1 1 1 1 r 1 1 ; i 1 1 1 1 , 1 1 1 ; 1 1 1 . 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 r . 1 1 1 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 ) . 1 1 1 > 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r m 1 1 r p r r - 1 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 : : d 1 1 1 11 1 1 r 1 1 1 1 1 1 J I r 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r ] 1 1 r ; 1 1 1 m 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ; 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 . 1 1 1 : , 1 1 1 : : i ; - ' 1 1 1 m 1 1 . ; 1 1 1 ; 1 1 1 1 m 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 1 r ! 1 1 1 i ! 1 1 1 ; j 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 1 m 1 1 1 r ] 1 1 1 1 ; 1 1 r I u 1 1 ) < 1 1 1 



IF Luther Burbank, the well-known breeder and intro- 

 ducer of new plants, were to announce that he had 

 for sale a perennial plant that in the spring produced 

 seeds of rye, in the early summer seeds of wheat, and in 

 midsummer seeds of barley, a sensation would be pro- 

 duced, which, if his announcement proved true, would 

 surpass any yet known to American agriculture. The 

 white pine blister rust parasite is exactly comparable to 

 such a plant as this, however. Nor is it alone in this power 

 to produce seeds of three distinct kinds. There are 



thousands of lowly organized plants closely related to 

 the white pine blister rust parasite which regularly 

 produce three or more forms of seeds, or spores. The life 

 histories of some of these chameleon-like plant parasites 

 are most fascinating subjects for the amateur scientist 

 could they but be presented by an Ernest Thompson 

 Seton or a John Muir. 



The white pine blister is a destructive, foreign para- 

 sitic disease of the white pines (pines with their needles 

 in bundles of five each). It came to us from Europe in 



RESOLUTION 



Passed at the International Forestry Conference of the American Forestry Association 



January 18-19, 1917 



Whereas 



The Pine Blister Disease threatens to greatly injure 

 the white pine forests of Eastern North America, and 

 is a growing danger to the white pine timber of the 

 West, and its origin, propagation and transmission being 

 now generally understood. 

 Resolved 



That it is the sense of this Conference that active 

 measures should be taken by the duly constituted author- 

 ities and by all good citizens along the lines advocated 

 by the officials competent to recommend practical meas- 

 ures for preventing the further dissemination and, as 

 far as possible, for the elimination of the disease. 

 Resolved 



That immediate action should be taken by the Federal 

 governments of the United States and Canada for ade- 

 quate quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the 

 disease to sections of the Continent not now known 

 to be infected. 



Resolved 



That co-operation by the Federal governments with 

 States and Provinces to eradicate or control the disease 

 in sections now infected should be continued and 

 extended by liberal appropriations. 

 Resolved 



That the States and Provinces, both independently and 

 by interstate, National and international co-operation, 

 are urged to conduct complete investigations, provide 

 proper quarantines and take all necessary measures, in 

 keeping with the seriousness of the situation, to eradi- 

 cate or control the pine blister disease. 

 Resolved 



That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the 

 Secretary of Agriculture, to the chairmen and members 

 of the United States House and Senate Committees on 

 Agriculture and Forestry, to all members of the United 

 States Senate and to the Governments of the Dominion 

 of Canada and of the Canadian provinces. 



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