i:eO EEPOET OF THE No. 3 



check over conditions with respect to the needle blight of white pine — of which at 

 that time there was little trace. Notes were made then on individual serially 

 marked trees with healthy new leaves for reference the following spring. The 

 forest as a whole was found to be in a much better condition than in the spring of 

 1918, the date of my first inspection. None of the marked trees had undergone 

 any visible change, their foliage looking apparently as green as in the foregoing 

 autumn. It was reported that roasting had not been begun until after the winter 

 had set in, and had been discontinued before the oncoming of spring thaws. It 

 seems not improbable that where damage has resulted in the past, it has been 

 at temperatures above that of the freezing point. Strangely enough, there appears 

 to be no definite information in the literature based on experiments with respect 

 to the susceptibility of white pine and others of our native conifers to sulphur 

 fume injuries at the lower temperatures. 



"Needle Blight" of White Pine. 



Considerable attention was given during the summer to '' needle blight " or 

 " leaf blight " of the white pine, concerning which so many inquiries have been 

 made by lumbermen through your office, in continuation of observations instituted 

 in 1918. Throughout I was accompanied by Mr. A. W. McCallum, M.A., B.Sc.F., 

 who was sent up as an observer by the Federal Government. 



The " needle blight " is most abundant in the northern parts of the Province, 

 but it also occurs in various other parts of Ontario, and in Quebec. Judging from 

 inquiries received, it has widely attracted the attention of owners of white pine 

 and has been the cause of some alarm. Reports of its occurrences and specimens 

 have been sent in from Norfolk County, Barrie, Toronto, Ottawa, Nipissing Dis- 

 trict and elsewhere. The general situation, however, is better than in 1918. 



The blight appeared this year in the latter half of June, just after the young 

 needles were beginning to grow out, and as has been formerly observed was 

 restricted to the new growth. The sequence of events was identical with the 

 developments of 1918, although the blight developed almost a month earlier this 

 year than last as there was a difi'erence of about four weeks in the two seasons 

 between the times of leafing. The new needles, usually on all parts of the tree, 

 soon after they have emerged from the bud turn lighter in colour at the tips and 

 then redden from their tips downwards. This process goes on for two weeks or 

 more, the needles meanwhile growing in length from their bases; the resultant 

 discoloration involves from a quarter to three-quarters, more or less, of each of 

 the affected leaves. There is a remarkable uniformity in the extent of the dis- 

 coloration in each tuft and each branch. No causal agent is evident in the diseased 

 needles. 



At first sight it appeared as though the blight was as severe as last year. In 

 the Timagami Forest Reserve, where some hundreds of trees had been serially 

 marked with metal tags or otherwise located, the frequency of blighted trees in 

 some parts appeared to be undiminished. Thus standing on the observation tower 

 at Bear Island and looking over miles of country all about, it was not possible 

 to decide that there had been any marked amelioration. Everywhere there were 

 scattered the bright reddened trees among the normal sombre conifers. A careful 

 review was then made of the ground prepared the preceding summer. 



Beginning with Rondeau Park on Lake Erie, four blighted white pines had 

 been found there in 1918 — no others were discovered. Mr. Geo. Coldworthv. the 



