36 
EASTERN SHADE TREE CONFERENCE 
to be removed and utilized promptly as dead trees will saprot seriously 
by the summer of 1940. The vacant spaces then will be occupied by 
sprouts and seedlings which will not be broken down by later salvage 
operations. 
Special precautions should be taken to use elm before next summer 
because of the Dutch elm disease, about which another speaker will tell 
you. Any logs intended for lumber ought to be sawed and the boards 
stacked by early spring to prevent serious sapstain. Prompt seasoning 
is essential. Cordwood should be stacked, seasoned, and gotten under 
cover within a year. The waste material (slash) left in the woods, if 
not piled and burned because of unsightliness, generally should be scat¬ 
tered flat on the ground so as to rot most rapidly and finally help to en¬ 
rich the soil. The fungi which rot such waste are not a serious menace 
to the living trees left standing. In order to reduce the accumulation 
of too much wood or lumber now, it may be feasible to take out only 
those trees that are dead or dying and later remove those that are still 
alive but so badly broken that they are unsightly or are not able to re¬ 
sume normal growth. Many such trees will be found. Deaths among 
them will occur for several years at least. 
This disaster calls for the best efforts of tree owners and tree surgeons 
to save as many as possible of our older trees. It has taken nearly a 
century or even longer for the larger trees to attain their size and 
beauty. It will take another long period to even approximately replace 
them. Everything feasible should be done to keep the survivors in 
vigorous condition and free from rot. 
(The following short account from a recent news release is included 
because of its practical bearing on existing conditions. Ed.) 
COMBATING INFECTION OF STORM-DAMAGED TREES 
By Rush P. Marshall, Pathologist , Division of Forest Pathology , Bureau of 
Plant Industry , in Cooperation with Osborn Botanical Laboratory , 
Yale University 
Heroic work has done much to right the hurricane damage to shade 
trees. The highways have been freed of fallen timber, most of the un¬ 
safe trees and branches have been taken down, enormous quantities of 
debris have been removed, and in many cases major injuries of the 
trees have been treated. So rapidly and efficiently has this early clean¬ 
up work progressed, that to the non-professional popular mind the task 
seems quite or nearly finished. This, however, is really an illusion, for 
