GO EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



although in our annual report^ we had already mentioned the 

 condition of the pine roots, and stated that we anticipated 

 trouble if this condition continued. 



The blight was characterized by a burning of the needles, 

 which was so severe in some cases as to cause the death of the 

 tree ; in others, burning was not so severe, affecting only parts 

 of the tree, and in a large number of cases the trees recovered 

 the following year (1900). In some cases the tips of the 

 needles only were burned, while in others the whole leaf was 

 involved. The branches bearing such leaves, and sometimes the 

 whole tree would die. The trees which recovered in 1906, of 

 which there were a large number, were not perfectly healthy 

 as regards color or leaf development, but they were free from 

 buruiug. Extensive burning occurred again during the summer 

 of 1907, appearing simultaneously all over the State the latter 

 part of July. It was much more noticeable than formerly, and 

 occurred at a very dry period, when high winds were common, 

 although the effects on the trees were not so disastrous. An ex- 

 amination of the root system in 1907 showed that about 90 per 

 cent, of the small feeding roots had collapsed, and the micorhiza 

 on the roots appeared to suffer the same fate as the roots them- 

 selves. The soil during part of the season was so dry that it 

 was like powder. Many of the trees improved during the fall 

 of 1907, and in 1908 they appeared much better. 



The principal burning during 1908 occurred on the young 

 tips of the needles, before they had expanded, and was nnich less 

 severe than in the preceding year. Many trees which burned 

 previously appeared perfectly green in 1908, and an examina- 

 tion of the root system showed that new feeding roots were 

 forming. 



In all the burning of the foliage we have never discovered 

 any indication of fungi on the needles at first, although after 

 the leaves had been dead a few weeks different fungi were found, 

 being purely secondary. In the summer of 1908 considerable 

 Scptoria occurred on the dead leaves, but there has been no 

 indication of infection at any time since the blight's appearance. 

 Hundreds of instances mav ])e noted where trees have remained 



I Annual Keport, Hatch Experiment Station, 1905, p. 9. 



