a b c d e Totals S A 4 6 4 5 0 19 T B 3 2 8 4 0 17 O C 0 3 8 9 5 25 C D 1 2 3 1 1 8 K E 2 2 7 9 2 22 TOTALS 10 15 30 28 8 91 Discussion After Dr. McKay's Paper Dr. MacDaniels: "A good scion on chestnut is one problem which we have not solved." Dr. Smith: "I find both Carr and Hobson difficult to graft and have discontinued them." Dr. Crane: "In California and Oregon they are having quite a lot of difficulty with graft union failure with Persian walnuts. They have used the Northern California black or Hinds walnut as root stocks. Now they find that in some cases the union fails and results in what is known as the black line disease. At the present time this trouble is the most important cause of the loss of their trees." Dr. Smith: "Zimmerman is a good bearing variety with a good nut. I find that soil makes some difference with this variety." Breeding Chestnut Trees: Report for 1946 and 1947 ARTHUR HARMOUNT GRAVES[5] The chief aim of this breeding work is the development of a chestnut tree of timber type to replace the now practically defunct American species, _Castanea dentata_. For the principal economic value of the chestnut was not in its edible nuts but its valuable timber, the loss of which means at present many millions of dollars subtracted from the assets of the American people; and when we consider the loss for all time in the future the figures become astronomical. [Footnote 5: Consulting Pathologist, Conn. Agric. Expt. Station; Special Agent, Conn. Geological and Natural History Survey; and Collaborator, Division of Forest Pathology, U. S. Dept. Agriculture.] _The Chestnut Blight in Italy._ Early in 1946 we received a visit from Captain John B. Woodruff, of Wilton, Connecticut, who told us that while serving as Chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and Instructor in Forestry at the Army University Study Center in Florence, Italy, he visited chestnut stands infected with the blight. _Endothia parasitica_ was first discovered by Professor Guido Paoli in 1938 on a private estate in Busalla, about twenty miles north of the seaport city of Genoa. Since then the blight has been detected throughout the province of Genoa in the legion of Liguria; and other widely separated infections have been found. The fungus has been cultured and identified by Professor Biraghi of the Royal Pathological Station in Rome, as _Endothia parasitica_. It is believed to have been present in this region for from five to eight years previous to its discovery. The manner of its introduction into Italy is not known, but since Japan and the U. S. have carried on considerable commerce with Italy, either or both countries are possible sources.