‘eee BLIGHT, caused by a fungus brought 
into this country from Asia before 1904, is re- 
sponsible for the death of millions of acres of chest- 
nut growth in New England and the Middle Atlantic 
States. -The disease spread rapidly to nearly all 
parts of the range of the native chestnut, and the 
remaining stands of the southern Appalachians face 
certain destruction. 
The present known distribution, its symptoms, and 
the fungus that causes the disease are described. 
The blight fungus itself does not have any effect 
upon the strength of chestnut timber, and blight- 
killed trees can be utilized for poles, posts, cordwood, 
lumber, and extract wood. 
Search is being made for native and foreign chest- 
nuts resistant to the disease in the hope of finding a 
tree suitable for replacing the rapidly disappearing 
stands. Seedlings of Asiatic chestnuts, which have 
considerable natural resistance even though not im- 
mune, are being tested in the United States. 
This bulletin supersedes Department Circular 370, 
Chestnut Blight in the Southern Appalachians. 
Washington, D. C. Issued November, 1930 
