180 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



As to the value of the trees and the cost of the destruction already 

 caused by the blight there was not much dispute. It was reported that the 

 loss in Pennsylvania so far is about $10,000,000. The annual cut of chestnut 

 in the United States is valued at about $20,000,000, and the total loss so 

 far is estimated at $25,000,000. 



Dr. Hugh P. Baker, of the Pennsylvania State College, estimated the 

 value of the chestnut timber of the country at $300,000,000 and said that 

 the loss so far is two thousand times what has been spent for protection. 

 He said that each State needs an annual appropriation of from $20,000 to 

 $50,000 to fight the disease and conduct its investigations. 



It was also reported that affected timber cut down and marketed is 

 of far poorer quality than healthy trees and that the railroads have reported 

 that diseased chestnut timber made into railroad ties does not hold the 

 spikes tightly. 



Governor Tener, of Pennsylvania, opened the convention with an ad- 

 dress in which he dwelt upon the necessity of vigorous efforts being taken 

 to prevent the entire destruction of our chestnut trees by the blight. Dr. 

 R. A. Pearson, of New York, was elected chairman of the convention, and 

 F. W. JBeasley, of Maryland, and S. D. Detwiler, of Pennsylvania, the sec- 

 retaries. Addresses were made by Dr. J. K. Collins, of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture; Prof. F. C. Stewart, of the New York Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station; Prof. W. Howard Rankin, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity; Prof. H. R, Fulton, of Pennsylvania State College; Dr. Caroline 

 Rumbold, of Pennsylvania; Prof. Nelson F. Davis, of Bucknell College; 

 Samuel B. Detwiler, of the Pennsylvania Chestnut Tree Blight Commission ; 

 Dr. Hugh P. Baker, of Pennsylvania State College; Dr. J. Russell Smith, 

 of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, many of the State foresters 

 and experts reported conditions in their own States, took part in the 

 numerous discussions or participated in asking questions regarding specific 

 conditions. 



Altogether the convention was a most enthusiastic gathering and one 

 which it is certain will result in great progress being made in the fight 

 against the destructive blight. 



W. B. Greely, silviculture branch of the Forest Service, in speaking of 

 the killed timber which had been sold recently, gave the following figures: 

 In the last 18 months the Government has sold 365,000,000 feet in western 

 Montana and northern Idaho. The most recent sale, two weeks ago, was a 

 tract of 25,000,000 feet on the Two Medicine River, on the Lewis and Clarke 

 National Forest. This consisted mostly of logpole pine, Douglas fir and 

 Engelman spruce, Fifty-five million feet was recently sold on the St. Joe 

 River in Idaho. This was mostly white pine. 



