Washington, January 13, 1910 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Bureau of Plant Industry 



Office of 

 Assistant Chief 

 Of Bureau 



Dr. L. O. Howard, 



Chief, Bureau of Entomology. 



My dear Dr. Howard: 



Dr. N. A. Cobb has submitted to me a progress report of an exam- 

 ination of certain cherry trees received in Washington, sent, it is under- 

 stood, by the Mayor of Tokyo, Japan. His examination concerns itself 

 solely with nematode infestation. The following is from his report: 



"Thirty-two lots have so far been examined, consisting of 294 trees. The 

 preliminary inspection was carried out as follows: the roots of each tree 

 were inspected very briefly, the inspection in no case lasting more than a 

 few seconds, and the trees thus selected as diseased must necessarily, in 

 nearly every case, be badly infested. The following are the results of this 

 inspection: 



"Percentage of Infestation with Heterodera Radicicola, 

 Commonly known as Root Gall. 



1. Of the 32 lots inspected 72% are infested. 



2. Of the total number of trees examined (294) 26% are infested. 

 "Much experience in this sort of inspection enables me to add that in all 



probability the vast majority of these trees are infested with root gall. 



"An examination of the soil removed from the roots of these trees 

 reveals the presence of large numbers of various species of nematodes. 

 The examination and identification of these will require some time. 

 Among them are a number of very injurious species. 



"I have no hesitation in saying that in a country where a proper 

 inspection of diseased material is legally in force with the object of protec- 

 ting agriculture, the importation of these trees can not be permitted. Root 

 gall is a very serious disease which attacks scores of species of cultivated 

 and wild plants. This disease already exists to some extent in the District 

 of Columbia and in many regions to the southward, and occurs in green- 

 houses in the northern part of the country. Very large sums of money are 

 annually lost through its ravages, and much money has been spent in 

 fighting it." 



Very truly yours, 



A. F. Woods, 



Physiologist and Pathologist, 

 and Acting Chief of Bureau. 



51 



