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.

* * * * *

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