INTERNATIONAL RESISTANCE-TESTING OF WHITE PINES: 

 NOW OR LATER? 



Henry D. Gerhold 

 School of Forest Resources, Pennsylvania State University 

 University Park, Pennsylvania 3 U.S.A. 



ABSTRACT 



There is considerable interest in developing ways of testing the 

 resistance of white pines to blister rust and other pests on an 

 international scale. It is timely to discuss how such a testing 

 program may be organized. Its purposes may include searching 

 for resistance genes, studying adaptability of pine genotypes to 

 different environments and pathogenic races, and detecting new 

 pathogens or more virulent strains. Testing can serve various 

 interests of participants, but care must be taken that one objec- 

 tive will not be jeopardized by adding another. A cooperative 

 program that utilizes existing facilities of institutions is 

 proposed. Participating institutions should have sufficient 

 interest, personnel, land, laboratories, and operational funds 

 to assure that the program will be effective. An organizational 

 structure patterned after the U. S. Department of Agriculture's 

 Cooperative Regional Research procedures is suggested. The 

 Committee on Resistance to White Pine Blister Rust, of the Inter- 

 national Union of Forest Research Organizations, is the logical 

 group to coordinate the testing. To initiate the program, it is 

 proposed that administrators of institutions that may wish to 

 participate be contacted, and that an organizational meeting be 

 held. Periodic meetings of cooperators will be needed subse- 

 quently to coordinate experimental activities. It is hoped that 

 the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization may be able to 

 support the program in several ways. 



INTRODUCTION 



As the title implies, I am persuaded that there is a real need for 

 testing on an international scale the resistance of white pines to 

 blister rust and possibly other pests. The pertinent question is "how 

 soon", not "whether" an international testing program should be developed, 

 This opinion is also held by other persons, though I do not know their 

 total number nor all of the lands in which they are located. The size 

 and composition of this gathering, however, is an indication of the 

 substantial interest in pursuing this matter. In these initial discus- 

 sions we should define the purposes of international testing, describe 

 the facilities that may be needed, and examine the ways and means by 

 which a testing program might be organized. 



289 



