44 
5. Distribution. A large subject, involving experiments 
and observations over wide areas and dealing with winds, rain, 
insects, birds and their migration, squirrels, the transporta- 
tion of wood, railway ties, etc.; rate and direction of distribu- 
tion; nursery stock; trees in foreign countries; effects of coppicing. 
Origin, Nothing is known at present. Is it native or 
foreign? Why was it unknown until recently, and then why 
so violent? 
7. Will it attack other trees besides species of chestnut? 
Much depends on this. Trees nearest the chestnut should be 
used for experiment. 
t is the future of the disease? Will it run its course 
and disappear? Will it become less virulent? Will resistant 
wn 
eyond the Mississippi river? How long after the death of 
all our trees may chestnuts be again planted with safety? 
Can we expect natural enemies to arise? If it were an 
insect disease, this might be looked for with more hope. 
io. Can a method of control be discovered by further scien- 
tific research? Most remedies suggested by unscientific persons 
are known at once to be valueless and need not be tried. One 
thing is certain, the more one knows about a disease, the more 
liable one is to discover a remedy. If none is possible, the 
sooner this fact is known, the better for all concerned. 
W. A. Murritt. 
CONFERENCE NOTES. 
The February conference of the scientific staff and registered 
students of the Garden was held in the laboratory on February 5. 
rrill gave a general account of the flora of the different 
isesities ree with specimens of some of the plants and views 
illustrating sa forests, educational institutions, and other 
ters of intere: e also exhibited a number of specimens 
of fungi c rere cca especially the groups which had 
been worked over since his return. A paper on the Polyporaceae 
