I also have observed the same thing where insects were the cause of all the trouble. A little downy species of the aphis, or plant louse, had completely overrun a Stump apple tree and really caused it to die. The owner told me that tree was blighted. But here also no sign of blight could be detected. Nothing but insects caused the tree to die, not blight.
I merely mention these instances to show how thoroughly and readily a disease or ailment of a tree or shrub is called blight where in reality not the slightest sign of it can be discovered.
If our people had the understanding and would take the time to investigate the cause of their diseased trees I am fairly satisfied the complaining of trees or shrubs being killed by blight would not be heard as freely as it is today.
Now under no circumstances should this be construed as meaning that I dispute or doubt the existence of blight among our filbert plants. Not at all. Quite the contrary. We have, as stated above, so far no blight-proof filberts and no guarantee that blight will not eventually attack our plants. We therefore will have to be more or less on the alert, will have to watch our filbert plants as we do our pear or quince orchards or other fruit trees more or less inclined to blight. By no means let blight discourage the planting of filbert or hazel nuts, as I am fully convinced should it eventually appear it will not kill our plants. In fact it will not harm them as much as it will our pear trees, our quinces or other varieties of fruit inclined to that disease, of which we, in spite of blight, plant and maintain large orchards.
My advice would be to stop all talk on blight and wait until it appears. Do not let us cross the bridge before we come to it but let us watch our trees inclined to blight, particularly our hazel and filbert plants, as they are not blight-proof, but eventually should blight make its appearance let us be ready for it, fully prepared to receive it, not to welcome but to eliminate it. That we can do, that we can accomplish very thoroughly through the operation set forth in the beginning of this paper.
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THE PRESIDENT: That is a subject that I feel we ought to have a little discussion on and I would like to hear from Mr. Jones, Doctor Morris, Mr. Bixby, Doctor Deming, for a brief discussion on the points just touched on by Mr. Vollertsen.
THE SECRETARY: I have had very little experience with the blight. Two years ago Mr. Bixby and I visited the very large hazels in Bethel, Connecticut, seedlings raised from grocery store nuts, and we saw there the blight on some of the largest trees, on the large limbs, unquestionable blight with sunken areas covered with pustules. I didn't see the trees last year, but on Wednesday, just before taking the train to come here, I ran in to this place to get a bunch of hazels to bring here, and I saw the tree on which Mr. Bixby and I had found the blight looking as well as ever. In a hasty examination of the tree I saw one or two stubs where large limbs had been cut off. I presume that the owner had followed our advice and had cut off the blighted limb and, apparently, the tree itself was none the worse for the blight.
I have had hazels planted and neglected for twelve or thirteen years and this is the first year in which I have found the blight. I have found before other causes of death of parts of the shrubs, girdling by insects and apparent winter killing, but this year I found several of my trees on which were undoubted patches of cryptosporella. That is the extent of my experience with the blight.
MR. JONES: I have not had any actual experience with the blight but I have seen it in Connecticut. I have not found it on any of the wild hazels of Pennsylvania. Therefore we do not have it at Lancaster. I have not regarded it as nearly as serious as pear blight and some other blights that attack fruit trees.