156 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



tion is accordingly very serious, as it is probable tbe disease cannot now be stamped 

 out. It would appear that local control, by eradication along the northern limit, is 

 the only })racticabL' measure left. 



The disease exists in the following counties: Brant, Bruce, Carleton, Dufferin, 

 Dundas, Durham. Elgin, Frontenac, Glengarry, Grenville, Grey, Ilaldimand, Hali- 

 hurton, Halton, Huron, Kent, Lanark, Leeds, Lennox and Addington, Lyicoln, 

 Middlesex, Norfolk, Northumberland, Ontario, Oxford, Peel, Perth, Peterborough, 

 Prescott, Renfrew, Russell, Simcoe, Victoria, Waterloo, Welland, Wellington, Went- 

 worth, York. 



The Provincial Forester attended a White Pine Blister Rust conference at 

 Pittsburg on the 12th and 13th of November. This conference was called in order 

 to bring together the results of investigations which have been carried on in the 

 United States and Canada. 



The reports presented at this meeting show that the disease is present in all 

 the north-eastern States, in Quebec, in Ontario, and as far west as Minnesota; that 

 in some states it is so widespread that its entire eradication is hopeless. 



The general conclusion reached at the Pittsburg meeting was that this disease 

 cannot be eradicated, but that white pine can still be grown where local control 

 measures are adopted. This was the opinion expressed by the leading plant patho- 

 logists from both countries. 



Following the Pittsburg conference a meeting was called at Ottawa of repre- 

 sentatives of the Dominion Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, 

 the Conservation Commission, Ontario Agricultural College, Departments of Lands 

 and Forests of Quebec and Ontario, and the Lumbermen's Association. After a 

 thorough consideration of the whole situation in Canada the following conclusions 

 and recommendations were arrived at : 



1. That it is in the opinion of this meeting at present not feasible, from the 

 practical viewpoint, to eradicate the disease from the heavily infected white pine 

 region in Eastern Canada. This meeting is, nevertheless, of the opinion that much 

 may be done to control or retard the spread of this disease to areas where it is not 

 already found, and to minimize its injurious effects where its occurrence is appar- 

 ently threatening the white pine forest of a given district. 



2. That in the opinion of this meeting scouting for the purpose of finding 

 whether the disease exists in districts not yet examined should be continued. 



Inspections have been carried out thoroughly in the southern part of the Pro- 

 vince of Ontario and it is considered that further systematic inspections in this 

 district are unnecessary, but inspections should be continued and extended into 

 Northern Ontario, especially between the southern districts and the main white 

 pine areas. Scouting should be continued in the Provinces of Quebec and New 

 Brunswick and should be extended to Nova Scotia and British Columbia. 



3. That there are cases of occurrence of the rust on domestic Ribes, especially in 

 isolated positions, where it would be advisable to take steps for the eradication of 

 the domestic Ribes, and in such cases that action should be taken. 



An instance of the occurrence referred to is found in the isolated area of in- 

 fection found at Petawawa, in the Province of Ontario, and while the eradication 

 of the disease is no longer possible on large areas, experience in both Canada and 

 the United States indicates that sniall centres of infection can be eradicated. 



4. Restrictions to be placed on the movement of Ribes and Grossularia Ccurrants 

 and gooseberries) from Ontario nurseries north of a general line to W, defiii'tely 

 located later,' but which may be somewhere about the Grand Trunk Raihvav, Parry 

 Sound line, and that similar action be taken in the Province of Quebec. 



