344 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1345 



in many places tliere are a few white pine 

 scattered througli the hardwoods and pastures. 



The ground cover is grass, goldenrod, blue- 

 berries, blackberries, raspberries and the com- 

 mon roadside weeds. The brush on the high- 

 land is prickly ash and hardwood reproduction 

 with zones of dense alder and raspberries 

 around the edges of the swamps. The soil is 

 mostly sandy loam, rather light. 



Five species or ribes are common there. 

 B. cynoshati predominates on the dry lands. 

 R. oxyacantlioides, B. floridum, B. iriste and 

 B. prostratum occur in the swamps in the 

 order named. 



The results of the first season's work under 

 this program are interesting and significant, 

 but not conclusive. The data in many in- 

 stances was found to be too meager and at 

 least one more season's work will be necessary 

 before any very positive statements can be 

 made, but there are some very strong indica- 

 tions. 



There was a decidedly higher percentage of 

 sprouts from the plants eradicated on the 

 moist type than on either the dry or the 

 swamp type. In fact no sprouts at all were 

 found on either B. triste or B. prostratum in 

 the swamps. This would seem to indicate 

 that more sprouting might be expected from 

 plants on the dry land type in a very wet 

 summer than in a dry one. 



There was a larger percentage of sprouts 

 from the plants which were grubbed than 

 from the jjlants which were pulled. It was 

 significant that a majority of the sprouts on 

 pulled plants came from the root ends, while 

 a majority of those from the plants grubbed 

 out came from pieces of the crown which 

 were left. Only two root sprouts from 

 grubbed plants were found. In no case, 

 either from pulled or grubbed plants, were 

 there any root sprouts, except where the root 

 ends were exposed to the light. 



The tendency to sprout from the root ends 

 seemed much stronger in plants pulled in May 

 and June than late in the summer. Possibly 

 this was due to the greater moisture in the 

 ground in the spring months. This did not 

 apply to crown sprouts which seemed to 



develop equally well in any month of the 

 summer. 



Where plants were cut off above the crown 

 they almost invariably sprouted in all types 

 and at all seasons with the exception of the 

 swamp species, triste, which showed very little 

 tendency to sprout at all. Plants cut off be- 

 low the crown showed very little tendency to 

 sprout. In fact the only sprout found was 

 on a root end which was dragged to the sur- 

 face in the process and left exposed to the 

 light. 



A study of the plots laid out in the eradi- 

 cated area seems to indicate that there is very 

 little difference in the efficiency of radication 

 in the dry, moist, or shallow swamp types, 

 while the number of plants left in the deep 

 swamp is hopelessly large. The eradication 

 done in May and June seemed much less 

 effective than that of July and August, but 

 this may have been due to the fact that the 

 crews were inexperienced at the start. 



The number of large plants missed by the 

 eradication crews was very small, represent- 

 ing on the average far less than five per cent, 

 of the original stand. 



The number of seedlings miissed is naturally 

 very much larger, but their leaf surface is 

 very small, none of them were found to be 

 infected and it is questionable whether they 

 live over to the second season in very large 

 numbers. Plots of seedlings counted in July 

 and August and checked late in September 

 showed a decrease of 25 per cent, while very 

 few two-year-old seedlings were noted any- 

 where. 



Up to December 1 no germination had been 

 obtained from any of the seed collected the 

 summer before. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Incomplete as this study is it seems to in- 

 dicate an important change in the method of 

 eradication. The number of large plants 

 missed is very small, the number of seedlings, 

 though large, is not excessively large, and the 

 sprouts make up a very large per cent, of the 

 leaf surface on eradicated land. If it is true, 

 as this study indicates, that practically all of 



