BATTLING THE PINE BLISTER RUST 



457 



belt of the man marking the line. They are hung on 

 twigs or stubs of branches, and the same man follows 

 the line on the way back, picking up the markers, while 

 a new line is marked by another member of the crew. 

 Thus no time is lost in looking for the line and no bushes 

 are missed between strips. 



In each of the New England states, and in New York, 

 a special control area has been selected for demonstrat- 

 ing methods of eradicating currants and gooseberries . 

 and for securing cost data on various types of land, and 

 under varying conditions. These areas will be gone 

 over at intervals of one to three years, to determine how 

 often it is necessary to cover a given territory in order 

 to free it of the bushes. It is inevitable that occasionally 

 a bush is broken off and becomes re-established ; also 

 there remain a number of small seedlings, which eventu- 

 ally develop into thrifty plants, but which are too small 

 to be found by the crews. However, necessity has 

 developed methods to control weeds, and there appears 

 to be no good reason why wild currants and goose- 

 berries should not be eliminated at reasonable cost. The 

 results of the work so far give every indication that the 

 cost of this work will be far less than the cost of re- 

 planting an area if its present stand of young pine were 

 destroyed by the disease. This does not include the loss of 

 time which replanting would occasion, nor the very con- 

 siderable loss in money if fine stands of native pine, five to , 

 fifteen years old, were permitted to be destroyed before 

 they reach merchantable size. Furthermore, replanting 

 such areas with white pine would not be successful unless 

 the currants and gooseberries first were destroyed. 



As in other lines of work, practical experience will 

 develop new methods and increased efficiency. The 



recent announcement of the successful progress of citrus 

 canker eradication in the South is gratifying, because 

 it proves that effective disease control can be done on 

 a large scale. In the case of blister rust there is no 

 hope that the disease can be eradicated from the east- 

 ern forests, but effective control is another matter. There 

 is no question that with currants and gooseberries ab- 

 sent, the disease cannot attack the pines. The work to 

 date proves that on many areas, at least, the bushes can 

 be found and destroyed. All known facts bear out the 

 statement that the maximum distance to which it is 

 necessary to remove currants and gooseberries to pro- 

 tect the pines from serious infection is not greater than 

 a third of a mile. Any pine owner can apply this remedy 

 to protect his own pines. It requires training to recog- 

 nize the varieus kinds of wild currant and gooseberry 

 bushes, and the work must be carefully done or bushes 

 capable of damaging the pines will be missed. A little 

 study will enable each owner to determine for himself 

 if it is practicable to protect his trees. 



West and south of New York State the blister rast 

 situation remains about the same as in 1917. Scouting 

 for the disease is being done on an extensive scale. No 

 new infections are reported from Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey, and the disease has never been found in the states 

 further south. In the Lake States, scouting is being 

 carried on in the native woods. In two states, Minnesota 

 and Wisconsin, the disease has spread to native pines 

 from infected nursery stock. The disease is known at 

 but three places, and is being eradicated as fast as found. 

 Shipments of nursery stock into the far West are being 

 traced, but no indications of infection have been dis- 

 covered. 



HELP THE TREES ! 



TF every man would be his own city forester and do his 

 * bit in taking care of the tree or trees on his own prop- 

 erty, it would be a big lift in this time of labor short- 

 age. On this subject the Washington Evening Star says : 



"Another war service opportunity was presented to 

 Washingtonians in an appeal by the District authorities to 

 property owners to cultivate the young trees which have 

 been planted along the sidewalks in front of their homes. 



"Ordinarily about 100 men are employed by the 

 department of trees and parkings for this purpose. On 

 account of the labor shortage there are now but fifteen 

 men engaged in the work. Home-owners are urged to 

 come to the rescue, and it is pointed out that by so doing 

 they not only will reap a benefit themselves but will 

 assure the city of attractive, shady streets in the future. 



"By loosening the soil around the young trees, re- 

 moving suckers and otherwise employing cultivation 

 methods, property owners, say the District authorities, 

 will render an invaluable war service." 



American Forestry applauds this sentiment. The 

 example set by the District should inspire the park and 

 shade tree authorities in other cities to ask for similar 

 co-operation from their people. 



THE TIME TO CUT WALNUT 



P)R. Robert T. Morris, of New York City, a well- 

 *"7 known authority, in a recent letter to American 

 Forestry, says : 



"No doubt the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture has taken into consideration the proper time for 

 cutting black walnut trees reported by the Boy Scouts. 

 The matter, however, is one which concerns us so deeply 

 that I may be allowed to impress the point that these 

 trees so far as possible should be cut between the 

 months of September and April. If the trees are cut 

 at other times of the year the root dies. It is a very 

 important matter to leave living roots which will repro- 

 duce the trees rapidly. It is not only a question of 

 future timber supply but the nut growers are at the 

 present time making special effort to locate black wal- 

 nut trees bearing particularly thin-shelled and well 

 flavored black walnuts with good cleavage. 



"The black walnut is destined to play a large part in 

 our agricultural economics, both as a timber tree and 

 as a source of important food supply. For that 

 reason special effort should be made to avoid summer 

 cutting." 



