DISEASES OF THE PINE. 183 



city growth by reason of the bark falling off from time to time, expos- 

 ing fresh surfaces to the air.^ 



Experiments were made in the botanical garden at Berlin of the effect 

 of gas upon the roots of trees — pipes being laid so as to leak 100 cubic 

 feet of gas a day under the roots of a maple, and 50 feet each under 

 two lindens. At the end of two months, all the roots of the maple were 

 dead, and decay had begun. One of the lindens still held its leaves, 

 but showed signs of hopeless disease. The other flowered the next 

 spring, but the trunk became covered with the same parasitic growth as 

 the other, and showed evident signs of failure. The signs of poisoning 

 were sooner shown in the soil that had remained compact than in that 

 which had been disturbed.'* 



CAUSE OF THE "SCHUTT" DISEASE OF YOUNG PINE PLANTS.^ 



In most parts of Germany where young pines are cultivated to a con- 

 siderable extent, experience has shown that for a period of over 30 years, 

 the leaves of the young pines in the spring will suddenly become of a 

 yellowish brown, or brownish red, and in a little time drop off. This 

 appearance is called in Germany the " Schiittkrankheit," and it is much 

 dreaded by foresters, on account of its frequency, and its destructive 

 effects. At almost every convention of foresters this subject has been 

 brought up for discussion, and many opinions have been expressed as 

 to the cause. 



It is a disease of recent times, and has only prevailed extensively 

 since tbe business of pasturing swine in woods, and natural seeding had 

 been discontinued, and since these plants have been raised upon cleared 

 ground in seed beds. The observations upon this disease may be sum- 

 med up as follows : 



It has been observed on the common pine (P. sylvestris) and only ap- 

 pears when the plants are from two to five years old. The younger 

 the plants the greater is the injury. It appears only in the spring, and, 

 according to location and weather, from March till May. The dying of 

 the leaves begins on the lower branches, and extends upward. The dis- 

 ease appears so suddenly that the finest tracts of pine plantations will, 

 in two or three days, present the appearance of having been burnt over. 

 The Bavarian ministerial bureau of forestry recommended the planting 

 of yearling pines having long roots, in deep holes, as a precautionary 

 measure. The malady has appeared on all kinds of soil, but has proved 

 most destructive upon those that are poor, wet, sandy. In the moun- 

 tainous regions the culture of pine is less affected from this cause, and 

 it is observed that southerly and westerly aspects are more liable to in- 

 jury than those of other points. In the more northern pineries it has 

 not yet appeared. In cold countries, as in Russia, it has been observed 

 in only very slight degree, and a correspondent of the Forst und Jagd 

 Zeittmg (1860), in writing from Moscow, says that not one place had 

 been seen there that had been thus injured. 



This disease does not appear every year, but occurs more frequently,, 

 and with most severity alter wet, cold winters with little snow, with 

 occasionally heavy frosts. In March and April, when dry, with warm 



1 Some noble specimens of this tree, planted about 1755, adorn the grounds of the 

 Pennsylvania Hospital, between Spruce aud Pine streets and Eighth and Ninth streets, 

 Philadelphia. They are 12 feet aud more in circumference, and still in fine growing 

 condition. 



2 Revue dee Eaux et Forets, xi, p. 161. 



3 From Dr. Ebermayer's Phyaikalischen " Einvnrkungen des Waldes auf Lvfl und Boden." 

 P. 251-261. 



