290 CHESTNUT 



cently, Chestnut has suffered little from insect attacks or 

 diseases of any sort, except that it is liable to be worm-eaten 

 when old ; but in 1905 a fungus disease appeared on the trees 

 on Long Island, and from there it has extended into Con- 

 necticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Delaware. It is very contagious and fatal. No 

 tree has been known to recover when once attacked, and 

 there is no known remedy, and none may ever be found. 

 Borne on the winds and the feet of birds, or by insects, 

 the spores of the fatal fungus lodge in every crevice and 

 crack in the bark where it is possible for them to find 

 their way into the living tissues of the cambium layer, 

 whence it extends to the entire tree. The spores multiply 

 with wonderful rapidity, and the end of the tree's life is 

 soon reached. In some cases the tree dies the first year, 

 and but few survive the second. It is a very serious mat- 

 ter, and may rob the country of one of its most valuable 

 timber trees. Pennsylvania has appropriated two hundred 

 and seventy-five thousand dollars to combat it. A conven- 

 tion was held at Harrisburg, February 19, 1912, to provide 

 for concerted action to suppress the malady. It was at- 

 tended by over two hundred delegates, representing not 

 only the forestry departments of several states and the 

 United States Forest Service but also the New York Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Stations and such educational institu- 

 tions as Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Lehigh, and Pennsylvania 

 universities and the Pennsylvania State College. Little 

 hope was held out that a remedy could be found. All that 

 is being done thus far aside from ascertaining the bound- 

 aries of the disease is confined to cutting down infected 

 trees and burning all parts not used for lumber or other 

 purposes. The fatality of the disease and its rapid spread 

 indicate that planting would not be advisable, certainly not 

 until a remedy can be found. 



