LIBRARY

OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS

AGRICULTURAL

COLLEGE

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DATE DUE 1

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
LIBRARY

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LIST OF ilEPEREHGES OH CHEST:bnJT THEE DISEASE.

Chester, F.D.: Blight of Japanese Chestnuts.

14th Ann, Rpt., Del., Col. Agr,
Exp. Sta. 1902, pp. 44-45, 1903.

Clinton, S. P. : Studies of the Chestnut Bark Di-
sease. Conn. St. Kept., 1907-8,
pt. 12, pp. 879-890, (E.S.R.,vol.
21, p. 742.)

Duggar, B.M.: Fungous Diseases of Plants, pp.

281-282. Ginn & Co., Boston, 1909.

Gaskill, A.: The Chestnut Blight.

3rd Ann. Rpt., Forest Park Reser-
vation Commission of N. J., 1907,
pp. 45-46, 1908,

Hodson, E.R.: Extent and Importance of the C 'nest- ^
nut Bark Disease. Circ. (unnumher ed)
Forest Service, U.S.Dept .Agr . Oct,
21, 1908.

Massachusetts State Forester: The Chestnut Bark

Disease, XXX Pamphlet, 10 pp. ]/
illus. map. 1912.

lyiassee, George : Di seases of Cultivated plants an^

Trees, p. 210. MacMillan, London,,
1910. r,.

Coli\H5 -^

2.

M e rkel , II e rmann W . : A de ad ly f u ngu s on the Ajne r i -

can Cliestnut. 10th Ann. Hpt.,
N.Y. Zoological Society, pp,
96-103, 1906.

Metcalf , Haven: Chestnut Bark Disease.

Science, n,s., May 1.5,1910,
no. 802, p. 748,

Diseases of Ornamental Trees,
Year book^ U.S,Dept. Agr.,1907,
pp. 489-490,

The Immunity of the Japanese
Chestnut to the bark disease. ^
Bur. Plant, Ind,, U.S.Dept.
Agr., Bull 121, pp. 55-56,1908,

Metcalf, H. & Collins, J.F.: The Present StatBS

of the Chestnut Bark Disease, l^
U.S.Dept .Agr ., Eur. Plant Ind.,
Bull. 141, - Part V. including
Bibliography. See also Bull.
149.

.^^^«. :. Control of the Chest-
nut Bark Disease. Framers* i/
Bulletin, 467, TJ.S.D.A, ,1911,

Morris, Robert T.: Chestnut timber going to waste.

Conservation, Vol. 15, no . 4
p. 2^6, 1909.

Iwurrill, William A.: A New CheBtnut disease.

Torreya, Vol.6, no. 9, pp
186-189, 1906.

A Serious Cliestnut disease.
Journ. TT.Y.Bot .Gard . ,vol.7,
no...78,pp. 143-153, 1906.

Editorial paragraph in l,Ty-
cologia, vol. 1, ^1, "D.SC,
1909.

Further remark 8 on a serious
chestnut diseef^e, Journ.
(IT.y. Bot. Gard,, vol.7, Ho.
81, pp. 203-211, 1906.

Spread of the Chestnut di-
cease. Journ, TT.Y.Bot .Gard,
vol. 9, !To, 98, pp. 23-30, "
1908.

The Chestnut Canker. Torreya,
vol. 8, ITo, 5, pp. 111-112,:
1908.

Penn3ylva,nia Chestnut Tree Bark Diseaee Confer-
ence: Report, KarriRhur^, "Fel^ruary V^

20 and 21, 1912.

4.

Pennsylvania Dept. of Forestry: Report on the

Chestnut tree blight, XXX, hy y
John Hickleborough, pamphlet,
16 pp. illus,, May, 1909.

Powell, G.H.: Notes on Chestnut Disease®.

Del. Bull. 42, Dec, 1893, pp.
20, 21, fig. 1. (S.S.R., vol.
10, p. 962.)

iehm, H. : Ascomycetes exs . Fasc, 39, #1710,

Annales Kycol ogica, vol. 5, p,
210, 1907.

sterling, E.A.: Are v/e to lose our Chestnut

Forests ? Country Life in Amer-
ica, vol, 15, no. 1, pn . 44-45,
3.908.

tVilliarns, I.e.: '^\\e Hew Chestnut Bark Disease .

Science, (n.s.) Vol. XX_Xr/, Ho.
874, Sept. 29, 1911.

--- „^ „«„„... -^„^ Addition <^1 Facts about the Chest<

nut Blight.

Science, vol. (n.S.) XJLXIV, ITo.
882, Hov. 24, 1911.

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LIBRARY OF THE

Massacliiisetts Agricultural Colle^e^

AMHERST, MASS,

THE

CHESTNUT BARK
DISEASE

STATE FORESTER

6 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

THE

CHESTNUT BARK
DISEASE

Where found in Massachusetts

How to tell the disease

Methods of control

Trees should be utilized before they die

STATE FORESTER

6 BEACON ST., BOSTON, MASS.

jP

BOSTON

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING COMPANY, STATE PRINTERS

18 POST OFFICE SQUARE

1912

Appeoved bt
The State Board op Publication.

THE CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE.

INTRODUCTORY.

Our Massachusetts citizens should be thoroughly alive to the
very destructive disease of the chestnut trees which is threaten-
ing to say the least, if it is not indeed already present in every
section of the State.

By reading this bulletin and studying the illustrations you
should be able to determine whether the disease is present in your
section, and to what extent.

While it had been found here and there in the State previous
to this year, we were surprised to discover, upon a careful examina-
tion by experts this season, that the infestation is quite general.
(See map.)

This bulletin can be secured free, for use in schools, granges,
farmers' clubs or for individuals throughout the State, by ad-
dressing the State Forester, 6 Beacon Street, Boston.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

Acknowledgment is hereby made to Farmers' Bulletin No. 467
of the United States Department of Agriculture, from which all
quoted portions of this pamphlet have been taken, and for a
photograph from which Fig. 2 is reproduced.

Mr. Arthur H. Graves, M.F., of the United States Department
of Agriculture, spent the summer months studying and locating
the disease throughout the State. Following Mr. Graves, Mr. John
Murdock, Jr., M.F., was assigned to the work, and he secured
the data and photographs in this publication. Mr. Murdock was
aided by various assistants on the State Forester's staff and by
Mr. G. H. Allen, B.S., in particular.

F. W. RANE,

State Forester.

3 ;'6?3

THE DISEASE,

HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION.

"The chestnut bark disease was first recognized as a serious
disease in the vicinity of New York City in 1904. ... Its origin
is unknown, but there is some evidence that it was imported from
the Orient with the Japanese chestnut. ... It is certain that it
has now spread into at least 10 States."

" So far as is now known, the bark disease is Hmited to the true
chestnuts — that is, to the members of the genus Castanea. The
American chestnut, the chinquapin and the cultivated varieties
of the European chestnut are all readily subject to the disease.
Only the Japanese and perhaps other east Asian varieties appear
to have resistance. In spite of popular reports to the contrary,
it can be quite positively stated that the bark disease is not now
known to occur on living oaks, horse-chestnuts, beeches, hickories
or the golden-leaf chinquapin (Castanopsis chrysophylla) of the
Pacific coast."

DISTRIBUTION IN MASSACHUSETTS,

The serious character of the attack of the disease in this State
was not realized until the past summer. During June, July and
August Mr. A. H. Graves, representing the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, made a tour of various portions of
Massachusetts. This was supplemented by work done during
the late fall by two special representatives from this office. These
investigations show that the blight is very widely scattered over
the State. In Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and
western Worcester counties the infection is general; sporadic
cases have been discovered as far east as Bedford, Quincy and
Taunton. The accompanying map (Fig. 4) shows all cases which
have been examined closely enough to be certain that the damage
was caused by the disease. In the western portion of the State
each symbol commonly indicates a group of infected trees, often
covering a considerable area; in the eastern portion most of the
cases consist of single trees or small groups. In one locality in
Alford, indicated by a special symbol on the map, all the trees

on an acre of pure chestnut were found dead in 1910; all the
trees for some distance around are seriously infected and will
die by next summer; and a heavy percentage of the chestnut is
infected to a greater or less degree over an area of perhaps a square
mile. No other case has been discovered in Massachusetts in
which more than one or two trees in a place are dead, though
there are many localities in the western part of the State in which
100 per cent, of the chestnut is infected, and will undoubtedly die
within one or two years.

CAUSE AND SYMPTOMS*

"The chestnut bark disease is caused by a fungus parasite known
under the technical name of Diaporthe parasitica Murrill. When
any of the microscopic spores of this fungus gain entrance into
any part of the trunk or limbs of a chestnut tree they give rise
to a spreading 'sore' or lesion. ... If the part attacked happens
to be the trunk, the whole tree ... is killed, perhaps in a single
season. If the smaller branches are attacked, only those branches
are killed . . . and the remainder of the tree may survive for
several years."

" Some of the symptoms are quite prominent. Limbs " — or
the trunks of young trees — "with smooth bark attacked by the
fungus soon show dead, somewhat discolored, sunken areas (occa-
sionally with a raised margin) " — or the outer bark may, in the
earlier stages, be raised in the form of a blister — "which continue
to enlarge and soon become covered more or less thickly with
yellow, orange or reddish-brown spots about the size of a pin-
head. These spots are the pustules of the fruiting fungus. In
damp weather ... masses of summer spores are extruded in
the form of long, irregularly twisted strings or 'horns,' which are
at jBrst bright yellow to greenish yellow or even buff, becoming
darker with age (Fig. 2). ... If the lesion is on . . . thick
bark . . . the pustules show in the cracks. . . . After smooth-
barked limbs or trunks are girdled the fungus continues to grow
extensively through the bark, sometimes covering the entire sur-
face with reddish-brown pustules (Fig. 3). These pustules pro-
duce mostly winter spores. ..."

" After a trunk or branch is girdled the leaves change color and
sooner or later wither. Such branches have a very characteristic

6

appearance. ... In case the girdling is completed late in the
season, the leaves of the following spring assume a yellowish or
pale appearance and do not develop to their full size. . . . The
chestnut fruits (burs) on a spring-girdled branch may or may not
attain full size. . . . These burs commonly persist on the tree
during the following winter. ..." The dead leaves also frequently
persist through at least the first part of the winter.

"Perhaps the most easily seen as well as the longest persistent
symptom of the bark disease is the prompt development of sprouts
or * suckers ' on the trunk of the tree (Fig. 5) and at its base, or
somewhat less frequently on the smaller branches. Sprouts may
appear below every girdling lesion on a tree, and there are usually
many such lesions. These sprouts are usually very luxuriant and
quick growing, but rarely survive the second or third year, as they
in turn are killed by the fungus. . . . Sprouts are sometimes pro-
duced as a result of other injuries, ..." and are common fol-
lowing thinning of a chestnut stand as a result of the increased
amount of light admitted.

MEANS OF SPREAD AND ENTRANCE*

" The disease is spread by the spores of the fungus," — minute,
dust-like bodies corresponding to the seeds of higher plants, —
"of which there are two kinds. . . . The spores . . . by rain . . .
are washed down from twig infections to the lower parts of the
tree. There is strong evidence that the spores are spread exten-
sively by birds, especially woodpeckers," — thus causing the
isolated areas of infection far ahead of the main line of advance, —
"and there is also excellent evidence that they are spread by in-
sects and by various rodents, such as squirrels. ..." Although
both kinds of spores are said to be sticky, the uniform and often
rapid spread of the disease from a center of infection would seem
to indicate that they are often carried to some distance by the
wind. An infected area may, under favorable conditions, increase
by several hundred per cent, in the course of a single season. Ap-
parently there has been a great spread of the disease during the
wet weather of the past autumn.

"When the spores have once been carried to a healthy tree,
they may develop in any sort of a hole in the bark which is reason-
ably moist. These may be wounds or mechanical injuries, but by

LEGEND

% Area without Chestnut
^ Chestnut seamy or wanTincj
' " Infection, loco fed by Graves

" Allen Si Murdoch
" reliable report
worst seen in State

FIO. 4. — Map fihowliig^ the Distribution of the Disease In Massachusetts, as known Jan. 1, 1912. The Lighter Portions of the Map is where Chestnut (frowa naturally.

far the most common place of infection is a tunnel made by a
borer. ..."

The disease attacks only living trees, but the fungus apparently
may continue to grow in the bark and to produce an abundance of
spores for six months or more after the tree has died.

STATISTICS.

The following table, compiled from the best data available in
this office, shows the approximate stand of chestnut, by acres, in
each county and for the whole State. The areas bearing more or
less chestnut in mixture with other species have been reduced
to the equivalent areas of pure chestnut stand. It will be seen
that approximately one-sixth of the total forest area of the State
is now covered with chestnut.

It is estimated that, roughly speaking, 20 per cent, of the chest-
nut area bears trees large enough at the present time to be cut
for ties or better classes of products. Perhaps one-half of the
remainder could, if sufficiently near a market, be cut for cord-
wood. The balance carries young sprouts.

COTJNTT.

Area (Acres).

Forest Area
(Acres).

Per Cent.

Chestnut Area
(Acres.)

Per Cent.

Barnstable, .
Berkshire, .
Bristol,
Dukes,
Essex, .
Franklin,
Hampden, .
Hampshire,
Middlesex, .
Nantucket, .
Norfolk,
Plymouth, .
Sufiolk,
Worcester, .

263,273
630,904
367,642

71,786
326,660
441,560
412,934
380,032
657,830

32,220
295,975
635,363

36,046
994,560

140,135
330,074
117,193
23,786
108,537
224,850
127,890
146,997
182,662

1,164
120,916
188,937

2,688
372,780

53.0
54.0
32.0
33.0
33.0
50.0
31.0
38.0
28.0

3.6
41.0
30.0

7.4
37.0

No chestnut.
81,500
11,000

No chestnut.

Practically no
chestnut.
24,000

36,000

28,500

19,500

No chestnut.

18,500

Chestnut neg-
ligible.

Chestnut neg-
ligible.
113,000

25.0
. 9.0

11.0
28.0
19.0
17.0

15.0
30.0

State, .

5,321,787

1,972,950

37.7

332,000

16.8

8

FUTURE OF THE CHESTNUT.

USES OF CHESTNUT.

Owing to its durability in contact with the soil, chestnut is the
best of all woods growing in any appreciable quantity in Mas-
sachusetts for such articles as ties, telephone poles and small
bridge timbers. It is also used to a considerable extent for bridge
planking. It makes a low grade of shingles, barrel staves, and
boxboards. It furnishes a rather inferior quality of cordwood,
but is much used at the limekilns of Berkshire County, and also
has a considerable local use for fuel. It is also used in the manu-
facture of furniture, especially as a foundation for oak veneering.

In the southern portion of its range, where the percentage of
tannin contained is the highest, and where the supply is concen-
trated, great quantities of chestnut are used in the production of
tanning extract. No attempt has been made to establish this
industry locally, and it is doubted whether the supply tributary
to any one point is sufficient to justify the erection of the expensive
plant necessary.

POSSIBILITY OF CHECKING THE DISEASE
IN MASSACHUSETTS.

It is admitted that after the disease has once become well
established' in a locality there is no practicable method of eradi-
cating it. To prevent the further spread of the blight, a "dead
line" must be drawn near the main front of the advance of the
disease. Behind this the chestnut must be abandoned. Outside
of it, all cases of the disease must be located and the diseased trees
destroyed. The survey of the State which has been made shows
that, were such a line to be drawn now, not less than two-thirds
of the total chestnut stand of the State, probably much more,
must be left behind it. To eradicate the disease outside the line
would necessitate a tree-by-tree inspection of every patch of
timber containing chestnut throughout the rest of Massachusetts,
since the blight has been found at or near the eastern limit of
the species across the entire width of the State. The expense of
such an examination would be enormous, to say nothing of the
cost of removing the diseased trees when located, and of the sub-

Fig. 3 . — Section of infected bark, showing pustules producing winter spores.
Specimen obtained atBarre, Mass., December, 1911.

9

sequent re-examinations necessary to locate new infections and to
make sure that none had been overlooked in the first instance.
The work has not progressed far enough in Pennsylvania, where
the most determined effort is being made, to show that it will be
successful. In view of the comparatively small amount of timber
that could be saved in any case, the great cost of the work and the
uncertainty of final success, it is not believed that any State-wide
attempt to check the disease is advisable. The State Forester is
reluctantly compelled to predict the probability of the practical
extermination of the chestnut in Massachusetts within a com-
paratively short term of years.

It is possible that in the case of valuable groves, especially in
localities where there is not much other chestnut for some dis-
tance, vigorous local action may be able to preserve the timber.
Such action is not advised unless there is a local market which
will dispose of the diseased trees as they are cut.

FUTURE MARKET.

Although chestnut is a very durable wood when cut green and
properly seasoned, the sapwood of dead trees left on the stump
soon rots. The railroads assert that the wood of trees attacked
by the disease deteriorates even before the death of the tree, in
that ties cut from such trees do not hold spikes as well as do those
from uninfected trees. Since the bulk of the chestnut in Mas-
sachusetts seems doomed to infection within a few years it is
evident that sound chestnut timber will soon be an exceedingly
scarce article in this State. Although the price of timber from
infected trees will fall very low in the next year or two, as the
market becomes flooded with such material, and will undoubtedly
carry the price of sound material with it for a few years, it is
certain that the price of sound chestnut lumber will rise again
before long, and should reach figures considerably above those
prevalent before the effects of the disease began to be felt in the
market.

Any chestnut that is allowed to stand until killed by the disease
will certainly be a dead loss. A great quantity of chestnut will
probably be cut and thrown on the market when threatened with
the disease, and prices will fall until they will no more than cover
the cost of lumbering, leaving no margin for stumpage. But a

10

man who is able to cut ties, poles, etc., while his trees are still sound,
and so pile them that they will keep for some years, will then
have an article that will be exceedingly scarce, and that should
pay a good profit on the investment. Statistics show that the
average life of a chestnut tie in active service is eight years. Ma-
terial carefully piled should be in good condition after at least the
same period.

SUMMARY.

1. The chestnut disease is now almost universally distributed
throughout the State. In the western half, infection is quite
general; in the eastern half, the centers of infection are mostly
small.

2. The area of severe infection is already so great, and the pro-
portion of chestnut that there would be any hope of saving s so
small, that the Commonwealth would not be justified in making
any attempt to stop the disease.

3. Chestnut forms approximately one-sixth of the timber of
Massachusetts. Practicall}^ all of this is almost certain to die
within comparatively few years unless some unforeseen conditions
come to its rescue.

4. Timber attacked by the disease soon becomes unmerchant-
able. Timber cut before it is infested may be seasoned and kept
for many years.

5. This bulletin is not for the purpose of over-exaggeration of
the chestnut disease, but is to give our citizens the exact conditions
as they now appear. Let every one interested acquaint himself
with his conditions by looking over the trees in his section. The
illustrations will aid you.

6. The State Forester's office stands ready to examine and give
advice on chestnut stands in any section of the State for traveling
expenses only. The State may see its way to meet even this ex-
pense later. We desire to assist in every way possible.

Fig. 5. — An infected tree, showing the characteristic production of "suckers.
Douglas, Mass., Jan. 6, 1912.

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Fig. 6. — A clump of infected sprouts, showing the characteristic bushy ap-
pearance of the "suckers" on trees of this size. Douglas, Mass., Jan. 6, 1912.