400 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 874 



0. Felton, president of the Pennsylvania Steel 

 Co.; Wm. Righter Fisher, attorney at law, of 

 the Philadelphia bar; Alba B. Johnson, vice- 

 president, Baldwin Locomotive Works; Robert 

 W. Lesley, president of the American Cement 

 Co. 



When the work of inspection had proceeded, 

 it was seen that the infection was of great 

 extent, averaging more than fifty per cent, of 

 all the trees examined. Under these condi- 

 tions individual and unsystematic effort would 

 and probably could avail but little against the 

 progress of the infection. It was decided that 

 the aid of the government should be called in 

 to render the necessary assistance. The De- 

 partment of Forestry of the state of Pennsyl- 

 vania was without direct legislative authoriza- 

 tion to do work of this character on a state- 

 wide scale, and without appropriation if it 

 had the authority. The national government 

 was appealed to and word came back that the 

 appropriation bills were all drawn, had passed 

 the house of representatives and were on their 

 passage through the senate, with little or no 

 prospect of change or increase in appropria- 

 tion. However, the active interest of Senator 

 Penrose was enlisted, and an amendment was 

 added by him in the senate to the agricultural 

 appropriation bill, carrying $5,000 for the pur- 

 pose of further study and investigation of this 

 tree disease ; and in the very last hours of the 

 session, which ended March 4, 1911, the 

 amendment was agreed to by both houses and 

 shortly thereafter became a law by the signa- 

 ture of the president. Thus, it will be seen 

 that through the activities of the committee 

 representing the above association there was 

 accomplished what at first seemed almost 

 hopeless. With this success in mind, the 

 committee and their friends and Pennsylvania 

 state ofEcials familiar with the situation 

 turned to the legislature, then in session, for 

 help and legislative authority to attack the 

 problem in Pennsylvania. The governor of 

 the commonwealth sent an urgent message to 

 both houses of the legislature, a bill was in- 

 troduced simultaneously in both, was passed 

 without debate or a negative vote, and became 

 a law by the signature of the governor, June 



14, 1911. The same phenomenal good fortune 

 attended this effort, and the law itself ia 

 looked upon as marking a great epoch in work 

 of this kind. It provides for the creation of 

 a commission of five persons, confers complete 

 authority to attack and destroy this disease 

 by whatever method they may adopt, and ap- 

 propriates $275,000 for two years for the pur- 

 pose of carrying on this work. The commis- 

 sion, only recently appointed by the governor, 

 consists of the following persons : Samuel T. 

 Bodine, Villa Nova, vice-president and gen- 

 eral manager of the United Gas Improvement 

 Co.; George F. Craig, Rosemont, wholesale 

 lumber dealer and large lumber operator; 

 Theodore N. Ely, Bryn Mawr, former superin- 

 tendent motive power, Pennsylvania Railroad 

 Co.; Harold Peiree, Haverford, of the New 

 York Life Insurance Co.; Winthrop Sargent, 

 Bryn Mawr, former president Standard Sup- 

 ply and Equipment Co. 



The commission has effected an organiza- 

 tion by choosing Mr. Sargent chairman, Mr. 

 Peiree secretary, and Mr. Samuel B. Detwiler, 

 a Minnesota forester, but a Pennsylvanian by 

 birth, executive officer to have full charge of 

 the work. Permanent offices have been se- 

 cured in the Morris Building, Philadelphia. 



In order that valuable time might not be 

 lost while the organization was being per- 

 fected, the Department of Forestry of the 

 state organized the outside work by sending 

 men first to an instruction camp and then 

 starting them out as scouts in lower York 

 County, to locate infection and report on its 

 prevalence. 



Reports from these parties are now being 

 received daily. With additional parties or- 

 ganized, York County will soon be covered and 

 the work will then continue up the west side 

 of the Susquehanna River and westward along 

 the Maryland line. A large amount of pre- 

 liminary work will be done this year in the 

 hope that the winter work of taking down in- 

 fected trees may accomplish the desired end, 

 preventing further westward spread of the 



infection. 



I. C. Williams, 

 Deputy Commissioner of Forestry of 

 the State of Pennsylvania 



