84 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
WHITE PINE BLISTER RUST 
Hearing Before the Federal Horticultural Board. Nursery Inspec¬ 
tors and Nurserymen protest against the proposed quarantining of 
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York 
and Pennsylvania. 
T HE public hearing on the proposition to forbid the 
importation into the United States, of all species 
and varieties of the genera Ribes (currants) and 
Grossularia (gooseberries) and the quarantining of the 
states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Con¬ 
necticut, New York and Pennsylvania, thereby prevent¬ 
ing the movement from these states to the other states, of 
five-leaved pines and black currants, was held before the 
Federal Horticultural Board, Washington, D. C., on Feb¬ 
ruary 4 th. 
The proposition caused a strong protest from the nur¬ 
sery inspectors and nurserymen of the states affected. 
The Legislative Committee of the American Association 
of Nurserymen was represented by its Attorney, Curtis 
Nye Smith and Thomas B. Meehan and Wilmer W. 
lioopes. William Pitkin, chairman of the Committee, 
was unable to be present on account of other business 
engagements. Prof. F. C. Stewart of the Geneva New 
York Experiment Station. Prof. Pettis, of the New York 
State Conservation Commission, Dr. Rankin, of the For¬ 
estry Division of New York, George C. Atwood, New 
York State Nursery Inspector, Tlieo. J. Smith, Geneva, 
New York, Harlan P. Kelsey, Salem, Mass., representing 
the New England Nurserymen’s Association, Dr. II. T. 
Fernald, State Entomologist, Massachusetts, Tlieo. F 
Borst, of the American Forestry Company, Mass., Dr. It. 
C. Hawley, of the North Eastern Forestry Company, 
Conn.. William Warner Harper, President Pennsylvania 
Nurserymen’s Association, Francis Windle, Assistant to 
Nursery Inspector, Pennsylvania, L. C. Bobbink, Ruther¬ 
ford, New Jersey and many others interested in the sub¬ 
ject. 
At the opening of the hearing a paper was read by Mr. 
Earl H. Clapp, representing the Forestry Service, whose 
statements and arguments were endorsed and augmented 
by Dr. Perley Spaulding, Pathologist of the Department 
of Agriculture 
It was stated that the value of the Pine timber, liable 
to infection from the spread of the disease, amounted to 
approximately 8411,000.000. It is claimed that the 
White Pine Blister Rust is such a serious disease and 
that conditions are so favorable, that it is very liable to 
spread throughout the entire area inhabited by the White 
Pine, and not only that, but it is also known to attack the 
Sugar pine of the Pacific Coast, the Western White pine 
of the Northern Rocky Mountain region and the Lumber 
Pine of the Rocky Mountains. 
It was further stated that the Rust has been discovered 
in the various states it is proposed to quarantine, and 
that apparently the only way to stop its spread is to stop 
shipments of pine seedlings and black currants from the 
infected sections, and by destroying infected pine trees, 
currants and gooseberry bushes in these infected areas. 
It has been determined by experiments and investiga¬ 
tions, that the currant and particularly the black currant 
and gooseberries act only as an agency in carrying the 
disease. The spores of the Blister Bust spread from in¬ 
fected pine trees to the leaves of the currant and goose¬ 
berries, they become established there, and when they 
develop, the spores are dissiminated from the currant and 
gooseberries to the pines. The currants and gooseber¬ 
ries are not harmed in any way by this infection, and al! 
danger of the disease spreading from them is past when 
the currant and gooseberry leaves are dead in the fall. 
The spores are distributed from the leaves of the currants 
and gooseberries to the pines by the wind. 
The disease was introduced through the importations 
of large quantities of pines from an infected district in 
Germany, some of this importation going to nurseries in 
this country, but the greater part of them being used di¬ 
rectly in forestry plantations. 
The discussion which followed, and lasted throughout 
the entire day, was very spirited, and at times exciting. 
It was taken part in by very nearly every one present, 
including Dr. Marlatt, Chairman, Prof. Orton, Dr. Sud- 
worth, and other members of the Federal Horticultural 
Board, Dr. Perley Spaulding, Pathologist, and other 
representatives of the Forestry Division of the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. 
It was shown, and admitted, by the Department repre¬ 
sentatives that while the disease had been found in a very 
few nurseries in the past few years, it had been cleaned 
up, and no new developments in the nurseries had been 
discovered. In New York it had been found only in six¬ 
teen localities, and mainly in private forestry plantations. 
In Pennsylvania, it had been found in two nurseries. 
One tree only in one of them, so pronounced, and no fur¬ 
ther known developments since. The other nursery, 
where infected white pine trees imported from Germany, 
were found, destroyed all these trees, and no re-infection 
has been discovered there. No infection of ribes (cur¬ 
rants or gooseberries) has been found in or near either 
of these nurseries, whereby the disease could be spread. 
The opposition to the proposed quarantine were em¬ 
phatic in their protest, that as it was shown that the 
nurseries infected, was a thing of the past, and that no 
recent cases had been discovered, it was fair to assume 
that the disease had been eradicated from these nur¬ 
series and consequently it was unfair to saddle the re¬ 
sponsibility on the nurserymen and prohibit the shipment 
of pines and black currants from the states which it was 
proposed to quarantine. 
It was admitted that action was necessary by the Fed¬ 
eral Board, but it was argued that such measures should 
