G 



and nine chestnut groves in widely separated localities it is firmly 

 believed these chestnut groves and orchards may be protected from 

 the ravages of this fungus growth. 



Since tlie blight was found at three places on the east side of Lan- 

 caster county, an inspection was made at two points on the western 

 border. At Martic Forge, or Marticville, the blight was found on 

 native chestnut trees in the immediate vicinity of, and in the grove 

 of the Paragon Nut Co. The grove contains nearly four hundred 

 acres. About two hundred infected trees had been removed from 

 the grove. The wood was on a pile at the woodshed. Many of the 

 sticks on the wood pile were infested with living spores. The blight 

 is a bark disease and when a tree is felled the bark should be burned 

 at once. When the bark has-been removed, the wood may be used 

 for various purposes. The bark on the stump should be burned for 

 two or three inches below the surface of the ground. Spores will be 

 developed and propagated many months after the tree has been cut 

 down. Specimens of infected bark have been kept in sealed test tubes 

 for more than nine months and on examination the spores were 

 alive and as active as on the day when selected for the experiment. 

 Martic Forge is thirteen miles directly south of the city of Lancas- 

 ter and about four from the Susquehanna river. The next inspec- 

 tion was made at Marietta, located on the Susquehanna and about 

 sixteen miles directly west of Lancaster. At this place Mr. John G. 

 Engle has a grove of one hundred and twenty-five trees, chiefly Para- 

 gon. His grove is in excellent condition. There was no evidence 

 of the blight and no indications that it has ever existed on his 

 property. The grafting which had been done by him several years 

 ago is as perfect in the union between scions and stocks as can well 

 be obtained. Infected trees on other property were found at 

 Marietta. Specimens of bark and branches showing the disease were 

 taken from native growth and also from Paragon grafts from two 

 small groves in the vicinity which had been seriously infected. In 

 Lancaster County the disease was found at three places on the east- 

 ern border and at two places on the west. In. Adams county, at 

 Gettysburg, there is no chestnut growth to speak of, but in the north- 

 ern part of the county at Idaville the forests are chiefly chestnut and 

 oak. This village is on the south side of South Mountain. Much 

 care was exercised in the inspection at this place and hundreds of 

 trees on several lots were examined. No evidence could be obtained 

 of the presence of the disease at Idaville. 



The next county to receive attention was Montgomery. Specimens 

 showing the infection were obtained from the trees on the campus 

 of Haverford College. Tliree estates near Haverford were examined. 

 The chestnut was the prevailing tree in this portion of the State. In 



