14 



rapidly over the country as it has moved eastward on the Island, it 

 is only a matter of a few years when this source of income will be 

 reduced many millions per annum. 



The number of chestnut trees on an acre of natural woodland has 

 been counted in New York, New Jersey, and in Pennsylvania. In 

 some counts there were from forty to fifty chestnut trees to the acre 

 disregarding any tree under two or three inches in diameter. In 

 Somerset and Morris counties, N. J., an average of thirty chestnut 

 trees to the acre would be a low estimate for many pieces of wood- 

 land. The damage already done by the chestnut blight in the States 

 of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey would not be less than 

 $12,000,000; and when the special value fnmi locaticm on lawns and 

 the aesthetic value in landscape features are considered, two or three 

 millions could be added to this estimate. 



REMEDIAL TREATMENT. 



Let us notice the conditions in the life history of the chestnut 

 blight. It is a vegetable growth and in its devel()i)ment, the threads 

 penetrate the delicate cells of the newly forming cambium. Suuiiuer 

 spores are produced from early spring to late autumn. On the ap- 

 proacli of winter, the winter spores are developed in sacs and the 

 sacs line the Masks or perithecia, and in this way tide over the sever- 

 est cold in tlie resting stage. 



In the caf 3 of a large tree, if it is infected at several points it 

 would be ad\ isable to cut it down at once. All the branches and the 

 loose bark si ould be burnt. The wood may be used for various pur- 

 poses. If allowed to stand, it furnishes millions of spores, and the 

 wood is greatly injured on acount of the attack of sai)ropliytic fungi 

 of vaiious kinds and also certain insect pests. Y'oung trees ai-e de- 

 stroyed in one or two years after becoming infected. The girdling 

 process is soon accomplished and the cutting and burning of such 

 growth is recommended. First, all undergrowth about the chestnut 

 trees should be removed. An examination of the trunk will soon re- 

 veal the healthy or living conditicm of the new wood beneath the 

 bark. If the layer beneath the bark is destroyed, the extent of in- 

 jury up and down and around the trunk can be ascertained. If only 

 a limited area has been destroyed, the dead portion, bark and dead 

 wood should be cut away and the wound covered with tar. If only a 

 few limbs are attacked, their removal should not be delayed, if the 

 tree is considered worth treatment. Cover all wounds with tar. The 

 two discouraging features about any treatment arise, first from 

 • the difficulty of finding all infected spots on a large tree, «nnd second, 

 many owners of woodland will not give attention to the matter. 



A few neglected trees will supply enough spores to infect all the 



