Final report of the Pennsylvania Chestnut Tree Blight Commission

This official 1913 report documents Pennsylvania’s determined response to the chestnut blight, a disease threatening one of the state’s most valuable forest trees. Prepared by a commission of foresters, pathologists, entomologists, chemists, geographers, and field workers, it combines administrative records with observations gathered across eastern and western Pennsylvania.

Listeners will find detailed accounts of how the disease was identified, mapped, and studied in forests, nurseries, orchards, parks, and isolated infection centers. The report examines the spread of blight spores, the possible roles of insects and wounds, sanitation cutting, stump treatment, tree medication, chemical experiments, and the utilization of damaged timber.

Alongside technical findings are practical recommendations, regulatory proposals, cost estimates, and descriptions of cooperation among state and federal agencies. Extensive tables, field reports, and a substantial bibliography make this a valuable primary source for understanding early twentieth-century forestry, plant pathology, and the difficult effort to slow an ecological catastrophe.