4 
Garman, Entomologist and Botanist of the Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station of Kentucky.* “Beginning,” he says, “in 1892, and 
continuing with greater or less frequency ever since, complaints 
have readied me concerning a diseased condition of elm trees in this 
State. * * * Previous to 1892 there is every probability that 
the trouble was under way. It was observed in Massachusetts in 
1847, and in Illinois in 1883. * * * 
“The first discernible evidence of disease is a loss of the leaves 
at the ends of twigs, often at the tops of the trees. As the trouble 
extends towards the trunk, the foliage gradually drops from other 
parts until finally the tree stands bare. [Plates I to IV.] The 
fallen leaves may show no mark of insect work, certainly none that 
could cause them to let go their hold on the branches, and the only 
thing abnormal about them is a discoloration, sometimes present, 
like that due to the blight fungus of potatoes, the tips or side 
regions being more or less extensively black.” 
An Earlier Illinois Case 
As already intimated, what seems to have been a similar trouble 
with the elms prevailed some time since in the central part of this 
state. It was in 1883, in fact—the first year of my service as 
State Entomologist of Illinois—that this matter first came to my 
notice; and during that and the three following years I studied the 
diseased elms with considerable care at Normal, Bloomington, and 
Champaign, publishing a short article on the subject in my third 
entomological report.f I was aided in this work by Professor Gar- 
man, who was at that time in my office; and he has had, conse¬ 
quently, an opportunity to compare the Illinois disease with that 
studied by him even more thoroly in Kentucky. 
The Present Situation 
My attention was first and most forcibly called to the present 
situation by a letter addressed to the University of Illinois in 1907 
by Hon. John M. Rapp, of Fairfield, in Wayne county, and re¬ 
ferred to my office for reply. In this letter he says: “We in this 
city are troubled with something that is causing the death of the 
elm shade trees. The matter seems to be growing worse each year. 
Some of the largest and finest trees have died, and the trouble does 
not seem to be confined entirely to the oldest and largest trees." In 
*“The Elms and Their Diseases.” Bull. 84, Ky. Agr. Exper. Station, 
tlnsects Injurious to the Elm. 14th Rep. State Ent. Ill , p. 112. 
