10 CHESTNUT TREE BLIGHT. 
A favorable feature in the situation is that so far the disease has 
done most damage in the vicinity of the sea, and there are some indi- 
cations that back from the sea, where there is less atmospheric moist- 
ure, it may be less virulent and may spread less rapidly. 
The damage which would result from the destruction or extensive 
depreciation of the commercial chestnut forests would be many times 
that from the loss of ornamental trees. Chestnut is one of the most 
rapidly growing and most useful of American forest trees, and it plays 
a very important part in the forests of the eastern United States. The 
wood is exceedingly durable and has, therefore, been extensively used 
for posts, poles, and railroad ties, while its grain, color, and ease of 
wanking give it a place among furniture and finishing woods. It is, 
moreover, a very vigorous sprouter and lends itself admirably to for- 
est management. ith the exception of white pine, chestnut proba- 
bly makes the most profitable timber crop that can be grown in the 
northeastern part of the United States. 
UTILIZATION OF DEAD AND DISEASED TREES. 
Since the fungus does not work in the wood to any extent and ceases 
its activities when the tree is dead, the wood is not damaged as a 
result of the disease. In many cases only a part of the tree is affected, 
while the rest is healthy and can be utilized without difficulty. 
Dead trees are looked upon with suspicion, especially if they are 
killed by a disease, and the wood is popularly thought to be weaker 
than seasoned live timber. In the case of this fungus there is no 
round for such a prejudice; as a matter of fact, the dead material 
is fully as strong as any other timber if it is utilized within a few 
years, before the ordinary agencies of decay cause it to deteriorate. 
In most of the places where the disease prevails the problem of 
cutting and marketing small amounts is a difficult one. The dam- 
age from the disease is sudden, and it is often hard to find a market 
on short notice, espegiay for small quantities. 
In order to market the material, owners should encourage the con- 
tractors and pole buyers, who as a class are also vitally interested 
in the perpetuation of the chestnut, to go into sections where the 
disease is doing damage. Where the tracts are large enough or sev- 
eral are located close together, a portable sawmill might be put in. 
Where the ‘quantity of chestnut is small, the best disposal is for ties, 
cordwood, and fence poe Owners of small tracts where the disease 
has appeared can often cooperate to great advantage in order to 
find a market or make a lumbering operation possible. 
MEASURES OF PREVENTION. 
The chestnut-bark disease is not like ordinary fungous diseases, 
which destroy a tree here and there after a number of years; it is even 
more virulent than the well-known pear blight, which it resembles 
in many particulars. It destroys quickly and spreads rapidly, and 
it is of the utmost importance to those who are interested in chestnut 
forests to secure a means of checking or stamping it out and of pre- 
venting its spread to localities which are as yet unaffected. 
Seedlings and sprouts are attacked with equal virulence and old 
and young trees are killed alike. There is therefore no system of 
