seven or eight years ago, I discounted every source of information that
I could have access to, as to yields, brought them to a conservative
point, submitted them to the best informed men in the United States, and
then divided those figures by five as my estimate of what I might hope
to accomplish as my orchards came into bearing. I have since been
obliged to find some excuses for failing to even approximate those
conservative figures. I had this year in our orchard, a 35 acre plot of
Frotscher trees which is one of the most promising varieties, six years
of age, and there were not five pounds of nuts in the whole plot. I have
had an orchard of 36 acres, mostly Frotscher and Stewart, go through its
sixth year with less than 200 pounds of nuts to the entire orchard. I
have another orchard of 30 acres which in its sixth year has produced
less than 100 pounds of nuts. Now many of these promoters guarantee to
take care of these orchards, which they are selling, for 10 per cent or
20 per cent, or even half the proceeds of those orchards, from the fifth
year. You can see readily that the entire crop of such orchards as I
have been able to produce, would not begin to pay their running expenses
the sixth and seventh year.
The Chairman: You took good care of yours?
Mr. Van Duzee: I think so. I think there are many gentlemen in the
audience who have been through them, and it is conceded that my orchards
are at least fairly good representatives of what can be done under
normal conditions.
Mr. Corsan: Are yours southern orchards?
Mr. Van Duzee: These pecan orchards are in south-western Georgia.
Mr. Corsan: The Northern Nut Growers Association, as I understand, is a
collection of men who are interested in finding out what we can do in
the way of growing nuts for the North. We go to the markets and see
baskets of cocoanuts, Brazil nuts, California walnuts, but no nuts
growing for the market around our neighborhood. In my own city, Toronto,
I can see some nut trees because I look very closely at everything, but
the average person cannot see them because they are very few. I have a
number of experiments on hand. If I succeed in even one of these
experiments, I am satisfied to spend my whole life at it. I am not
nervous, I can watch a hickory tree grow. (Laughter.) I want to grow
some nuts for the next generation. I haven't the slightest thought of
making a copper of money out of it but I am going to enjoy the thing,
and that's the idea of the Northern Nut Growers Association, or else I
have made a mistake.
The Chairman: Is there any further discussion on the matter of frauds?
Does anyone else wish to speak on this subject?
Mr. Littlepage: It is indeed very gratifying to hear the President of
the National Nut Growers' Association, Col. Van Duzee, speak on this
subject and to have the honor of having him with us as a member of our
Association. It is gratifying to have him come out in such strong terms
on this question. It has always been his policy and his reputation, so
far as I have heard, to stand for what is best and squarest in nut
culture.
The Chairman: The paper of Mr. Littlepage is one of very great
importance, because the number of frauds associated with an enterprise
is an indication of the fundamental value of the cause. These fraudulent
nut promoters capitalize the enthusiasm of people who want to get back
to the land, just as porters at the hotels capitalize the joy of a newly
married couple. (Laughter.) We have in this "back-to-the-land" movement,
a bit of philosophy of fundamental character which includes the idea of
preservation of the race. Preservation of the race!--why so? Nature made
man a gregarious species and, being gregarious, he has a tendency to
develop the urban habit. Developing the urban habit, he fails to oxidize
his proteins and toxins. Failing to oxidize his proteins and toxins, he
degenerates. Recognizing the degenerating influence of urban life, by
means of his intelligence he has placed within his consciousness that
automatic arrangement, as good as the automatic arrangement which turns
water on to a boiler, which says to him, "go out and oxidize your
proteins and toxins." That is what "back-to-the-land" means. You've got
to begin from this fundamental point. Now then, if this represents a
fundamental trait in the character of our species and we are acting in
response to a natural law, then must we be doubly careful about having
our good intentions, our good methods, halted by unwisdom. That brings
to mind the point made about our present Secretary of Agriculture. I am
very glad this has been made a matter of record here, for I am sorry to
say that in connection with another subject--(health matters)--wherever
there has been opportunity for the Secretary to act, he has decided as a
matter of policy on the side of capital and against the side of public
interest. Almost every time, so far as we have a record of the action of
the present Secretary of Agriculture and of Dunlap and McCabe, his
assistants. We ought to state here, in connection with fraudulent nut
promotions, that he has acted in favor of capital and against the public
interest if it is true. It ought to go as a matter of record from this
Association. We may be bold in this matter, but we should be righteously
bold because we are speaking for the public interest ourselves. We have
nothing to gain; there is nothing selfish about this organization. We
may be kindly and say that the Secretary is at the mercy of shrewder
men.
Mr. Corsan says that we are interested in scientific work only. That is
true at the present time, because all progress must be from a scientific
basis. If our care in managing experiments is such that we cannot avoid
getting rich, we will accept the result. (Laughter.) I am glad that in
connection with this discussion Mr. Corsan made one epigrammatic
remark,--that he was not nervous and could watch a hickory tree grow. I
tell you there's a lot of wit in that.
Mr. Littlepage: He has good eyesight, Mr. President.
The Chairman: The reason why we have so many fraudulent promotions is
largely because of our American temperament; we are so nervous that we
can't watch a hickory tree grow. In matters of public health, our
Secretary of Agriculture has prevented actual criminals from being
brought to justice--he made that his policy.
I think those are the points that I wish to make in commenting upon Mr.
Littlepage's paper and if he will make any concluding remarks we will be
very glad to hear them. In regard to Mr. Hutt's suggestion that we
cannot count on crop success or crop failure mathematically--now, there
are fortunes to be made from the proper management of good nut orchards.
We know of orchards where very large incomes are at present being made,
and I am very glad that the sense and sentiment of this meeting is
against quotation of that feature. I have not heard here one word in
quotation of orchards which bring incomes of $10,000 a year or more from
various kinds of nuts, and we know there are many such orchards. It is
the failures upon which we should concentrate our attentions right now,
and the reason for failure is not that nut growing is not going to make
progress but that we cannot count on our nuts from a mathematical basis.
One of my friends, an old Frenchman, became very enthusiastic about
raising poultry. He sent out requests for circulars to every poultry
fancier who published circulars, and I will wager that he got 50 per
cent of answers to his requests for circulars about fancy poultry. He
began to raise chickens, and my father-in-law met him on the street one
day and asked how he was getting on with his pullets that were going to
lay so many eggs. "Oh," he said, "Ze trouble is with ze pullet; she no
understand mathematique like ze fancier. If I have one pullet, she lay
one egg every day; if I have two pullet, _perhaps_ she lay two egg every
day, and if I have three pullet, she _nevaire_ lay three egg every day."
(Laughter.) Now I think that the remaining time this morning we had
better devote to the executive session, then we had better meet at two
o'clock for the election of our committee. The meeting then is at
present adjourned, with the exception of those who will take part in the
executive session, and we will meet again at two P. M. There is one
point I wanted to make in connection with Col. Van Duzee's remarks that
a certain number of really honest men have allowed their names to be
used in connection with promotion propositions. Men who are quite
skillful at learning the use of names, have gotten men of good
intentions and kindly interest, I know, to lend their names as even
officials of nut promotion companies. Besides that, a good deal of
garbled literature of recommendation has gone out in their circulars. I
have had a number of circulars sent to me quoting abstract remarks that
I had made relative to nut culture in general, and this has been applied
concretely in circulars; the context did not go with it. I asked a
lawyer what I could do about it, and after going over the question he
said that I probably was powerless.
After announcements by the Secretary, the convention took a recess until
2 P. M., at which time it was called to order by President Morris and
the regular program was resumed as follows:
The Chairman: The executive session will be held after the meeting, as
many are here to hear the paper on the chestnut blight, so we will
proceed at once to the order of business and listen to the first paper
by Mr. Rockey.
Mr. Rockey: This paper deals more particularly with the work that has
been done in Pennsylvania. But what has been done here may be considered
to be typical of what has been done elsewhere.
RECENT WORK ON THE CHESTNUT BLIGHT
KELLER E. ROCKEY
Forester in charge of Demonstration Work, Pennsylvania Chestnut Tree
Blight Commission
The history of the blight, briefly outlined, is as follows:
In 1904 the diseased condition of the chestnut trees around New York
City was noted and an examination of them showed that they were being
attacked by a disease at that time unknown. Investigations since then
have shown that the blight had been at work there and elsewhere for a
number of years before that time, but it has been impossible to
determine just when it first appeared or where. The disease was studied
and described at that time.
On display here are specimens and photographs showing the appearance of
the blight so that I will not go into that part of the subject in
detail. I hope that you will notice, however, the symptoms by which the
disease is recognized: 1st. The small red pustules which produce the
spores and, on rough barked trees, appear only in the crevices. 2nd. The
peculiar mottled appearance of the inner bark of the canker. 3rd. The
discoloration of the outer bark. 4th. The danger signals, such as
withered leaves in summer or persistent leaves or burrs in winter,
suckers which develop at the base of cankers, and the yellowish cracks
which soon appear in the bark over the cankers.
Workers in the Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C., have been
studying the blight since 1908. In the Spring of 1911, a bill creating
the commission for the investigation and control of the blight in
Pennsylvania was passed, and the active work began in August 1911. The
method upon which the Commission is working is outlined in Farmers'
Bulletin No. 467, of the Department of Agriculture, and consists briefly
of determining the area of blight infection and in removing diseased
trees west of a certain line, with the purpose of preventing the western
spread of the blight.
This Commission has ascertained as accurately as possible the amount of
infection in the various parts of the state and the results are given in
a map on display here. The state is divided into two districts by a line
drawn along the western edge of Susquehanna, Wyoming, Columbia, Union,
Snyder, Juniata and Franklin Counties, which is approximately the
western line of serious blight infection. West of this line a large
portion of the state has been scouted, and the remainder will be
finished early in 1913. We have learned by experience that in the
winter, after the fall of the leaves, the best scouting work can be
done. Persistent leaves and cankers along the trunk are readily seen,
and more and better work can be accomplished than in the summer, except
when the snow is very deep.
Blight infections have been found in counties adjacent to this line:
also in Fayette County, near Connellsville, in Warren County, near
Warren, and in Elk County, near St. Mary's. These three infections were
directly traceable to infected nursery stock, and in one case the blight
had spread to adjacent trees. A large area of diseased chestnut in
Somerset County illustrates the harm done by shipping infected nursery
stock. The centre of this infection is a chestnut orchard where about
100 scions from an infected eastern orchard were grafted to native
sprouts in 1908. The percentage of infected trees in the orchard from
which the scions were obtained, according to a count made this Fall,
averages 80 per cent. Evidently these scions brought the disease into
this region, for the grafts have all been killed by the blight and every
tree in the orchard is killed or infected by disease. On adjoining
tracts over 5,400 infected trees have been cut, and there are a number
of others in process of removal, radiating in all directions from the
orchard as a center to a distance of three miles. Another infection of
143 trees was found in Elk County. It is thought that three trees at the
centre of infection were diseased in 1909, although it is possible that
one of these trees was already infected in 1908. In 1910, 27 additional
trees were infected; in 1911, 50 additional trees, and in 1912, 228
additional trees. The disease spread in all directions from the center
of infection to a distance of 700 feet.
These infections are interesting in showing the rate at which the blight
may travel in healthy timber.
These infections have all been removed and it is the expectation that by
the end of January 1913 all scattered spot infections will be removed
from the territory west of the line previously mentioned, and that, to
the best of our knowledge, these western counties will be free from
blight. In 1913 the field force will be concentrated on the advance line
and the work will be carried eastward. The Commission has the power to
compel the removal of infected trees. In the western part of the state
this power has been exercised in the few cases where it was necessary.
As a rule, however, the owners are not only willing but anxious to get
rid of the infected trees, and our field men are given hearty support by
individuals, granges and other organizations. The timber owners of Elk
County had printed and posted an announcement that the chestnut blight
had been found in the locality and warned the people to be on the
look-out for it. In addition the Commission has had a man, for a short
time at least, in each of the eastern counties of the state, and their
time has been taken up principally by those who requested inspections of
timber with the view of determining the percentage of blight infection
and the best method to be pursued in combating it and realizing on their
timber. Our men are all deputy wardens, with the authority which is
attached to this office, and are instructed to do their utmost to
prevent fire damage.
An exhibit which consists of specimens showing the blight in various
stages together with photographs, literature, etc., was placed in about
30 of the county fairs throughout the state. The appreciation of the
public has been so clearly shown that next year it is the intention of
the Commission to continue and perhaps increase this phase of the work,
and to place large permanent displays at the Commercial Museum,
Philadelphia, the State Capitol, Harrisburg, and other places.
Many of the Annual Teachers' Institutes have been reached with a display
and lecture. We have arranged also to have a speaker at fully one
hundred of the Farmers' Institutes this winter. We are also arranging to
have a permanent display at many of the public schools, normal schools
and colleges, where instruction on the blight is given. An effort was
made last winter to enlist the service of the boy scouts and we are
indebted to them for considerable work, chiefly in an educational way.
The successful outcome of all our work will depend in a large measure
upon the owners themselves, and it is our purpose to give them all the
information possible upon the whole subject.
The Commission established a Department of Utilization which is
collecting information on the various industries which use or might use
chestnut wood, listing the buyers and owners of chestnut wood, thus
assisting owners of blighted chestnut trees in marketing their timber to
the best advantage. The Department is trying to increase the use of
chestnut wood by calling attention to its many good qualities, and thus
utilize the large quantity which must necessarily be thrown upon the
market. There has been more or less discrimination against blighted
chestnut timber. This has been in many cases unjust, since the blight
does not injure the value of the wood for most purposes for which it is
used. However, the owners sometimes fail to realize that the blight
cankers are the most favorable places for the entrance of the borers,
and that where a large number of trees are being considered, a
percentage of them will be materially injured by insects which follow
blight infection. Where telegraph poles are barked, it is often seen
that borers have attacked the wood under blight cankers, and have not
touched any other part of the tree. All blighted timber should be cut
before death to realize its best value, since insects and
wood-destroying fungi cause the very rapid deterioration of dead,
standing timber. There has been a good market in almost every locality
for poles, ties and the better grades of lumber. Cordwood presents the
difficult problem of disposal. The best market for this is in the
central part of the state, at the extract plants. The Commission has
secured from the Pennsylvania R. R. a special tariff on blighted
chestnut cordwood so that this product may be profitably shipped from
greater distances than before.
The Commission has inspected all chestnut nursery stock shipped from
nurseries within the state and has also provided for inspection of all
chestnut stock entering the state. This should prevent a repetition of
infections in the western part of the state which might destroy millions
of dollars worth of timber.
From time to time publications have been and will be issued by the
Commission, which are obtained free of charge upon request, or they may
be consulted in the leading libraries throughout the state.
An appropriation for $80,000 was given by the last Congress for
scientific research work upon the blight disease and work is being
carried out in cooperation with the various states. Several of the
Government investigators are now at work upon our force. Some of the
most important unsolved scientific problems of the blight, as given by
Secretary Wilson, in his message, to Congress, are as follows:--
First, the relation of the disease to climate.
Second, the relation of the parasite to the varying tannin content of
the tree.
Third, the origin of the disease.
Fourth, relation of birds and insects to the dissemination of the
disease.
Fifth, the nature and degree of resistance of the Asiatic species.
Another problem in relation to tree treatment may be added, that is, the
relation of spores and mycelium to toxic agents.
The Pennsylvania Commission maintained laboratories during the summer at
Charter Oak, Centre County, and at Mt. Gretna, Lebanon County. The
latter has been moved to Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, for
the winter. We have also had a laboratory at the University of
Pennsylvania, which has been greatly enlarged this fall.
The number of people who informed us that they had discovered a sure
"cure" for the blight made it necessary to obtain an orchard near
Philadelphia where all such discoverers were given an opportunity to
demonstrate the efficacy of their remedies. It might be noted that in
every case the blight is thriving as usual. These cures consisted
largely of an injection of a toxic principle by some means into the
circulation of the tree. In some cases this was accompanied by a
fertilizer of some kind, and this fertilizer may account for the
apparently improved condition of the tree in some cases, after such
remedies were used, since the growth was increased and the leaves and
branches had a healthier appearance. This increased growth has not had
any appreciable effect upon the rapidity of spread of the blight
mycelium. As the experiments are not officially finished and recorded it
is too early to give any further data. Our pathologists have also
conducted experiments in this same line but no medicinal remedy or
fertilizer has yet been found.
The varying chemical constituents of chestnut trees, principally tannic
acid, have often been suggested in regard to the origin and spread of
the blight. Investigators are now working along this line and we hope,
for valuable results before long.
The origin of the disease, as already stated, is something of a mystery,
and there is as yet no generally accepted theory, although many people
have very pronounced views on the subject. Many puzzling facts have been
noted since investigating the disease in Pennsylvania, among them being
the large percentage of infection in eastern York and southern Lancaster
counties, the relative small percentage in certain localities around
which the blight is generally prevalent, and recent infections found in
Warren and other western counties, a great distance from what is known
as the western advance line of the disease.
Our pathologists have reported some very interesting facts in regard to
the dissemination of the blight. In the preliminary report of the
summer's work at our field laboratories the results tend to show:
First, the prolific ascospore stage is very important in causing the
spread of the blight, the spores at this stage being forcibly ejected
from the pustules and borne through the air for some distance. This
ejection of spores takes place under natural field conditions only when
the bark has been soaked by rain, but the expulsion of spores is also
dependent upon temperature conditions and ceases entirely at
temperatures from 42 to 46 degrees F. and below.
Second, the wind plays a large part in local ascospore dissemination.
Third, birds and insects (except ants) are apparently of very little
importance in the dissemination of the blight except in providing
wounds. Further investigations of the importance of ants is being made
during the present winter.
Several kinds of beetles have been observed eating the pustules and are
in this way beneficial, since tests show that they digest and destroy
the spores. It has also been suggested by workers in the Bureau of
Entomology that such beetles, which are of several kinds, may be of
value in the attempt to control the disease. These are perhaps the only
natural enemies discovered to date.
The proper classification of the chestnut blight fungus has also been
the subject of much discussion. Last winter specimens of what in
external characteristics appeared to be Diaporthe parasitica were found
in western Pennsylvania, Virginia and elsewhere, growing upon chestnut,
oak and other species. This condition was puzzling and the subject of
some controversy. It has been found, however, that this fungus, called
the "Connellsville fungus," is a distinct species closely related to the
true blight fungus, being, however, entirely saprophytic. Cultural
distinctions are apparent and the ascospores differ in size and shape so
that no further confusion need occur.
Upon the question of immunity of certain kinds of Asiatic stock, there
is very little to report beyond what was known one year ago. In the
investigations made the work has been hampered by the fact that much of
the so-called Japanese stock is in reality a hybrid of European or
American species. In 1909, 45 Japanese seedling trees were set out at
Gap, Lancaster Co., for experimentation along this line. A recent
examination showed that 90 per cent are infected. Concerning the variety
or purity of this stock, I have not been informed. Our force as well as
others are at work upon the problem which will require many years'
study.
Previous investigations seem to show that certain pure strains of
Japanese and Korean chestnut are resistant to the blight. Blight cankers
may be found upon them but they are less easily infected and suffer less
than the more susceptible varieties. With this as a working basis,
considering the results that have been attained in other fruit by
selection and hybridization, the situation is hopeful. Prof. Collins
said at the Harrisburg Conference in February that "There is no reason
to doubt that we may eventually see an immune hybrid chestnut that will
rival the American chestnut in flavor and the Paragon in size".