>From Westcott's Plant Disease Handbook, 4th ed.- "Dutch Elm Disease was discovered in Ohio in 1930 and in New Jersey in 1933. It has spread north thorough New England and has become very serious in the Midwest. In 1948, the disease was found in Denver and in 1976 in Claifornia. The spread of the fungus is linked with the presence of the large and small European bark beetles. Only the latter is established in this country, having arrived in Boston about 1919. Patient detective work established the fact that the fugus canme here in elm burl logs imported for furniture veneer. After one such infected elm burl was found in Baltimore in 1934, months of scouting went on in the vicinity of ports of entry, railroad distribution yards, and veneer plants. Such backtracking showed the infected material had come in at four ports of entry and had been carried by 16 railroads over 13,000 miles in 21 states. From this source the disease got its start in at least 13 areas in 7 states. Nursery stock is, of course, quarantined, and elm burl are embargoed; but who would have believed that dishes could have anything to do with killing our elms? Dishes have to be crated, however, and serval times since 1933 English dises crated with elm wood carrying bark beetles have been intercepted." Elm trees were widely over planted, and the once the disease got into one tree, it could spread by natural root graphs to other nearby trees. In the 1940's, the use of "new" chemicals was not seen to be a horriable thing, in fact it was progress. As historians, we can not place our values on the thoughts and actions of those we study. We can learn from thier successes and mistakes, but I am sure that those kids playing in the rain of that spray thought it was a grand thing. I remember walking through aerial spraying in the Adirondacks as they tried to control the black flies. People demanded such sprays. It was a new and easy way to control this pest. Certainly, now I bring my kids inside when they spray the village for control, although I know the stuff is relatively harmless. Why take a chance? But, people still demand that we spray. The yellow strips could have been sticky traps, markers for clean or infected trees, spray guides, or poor attempts at controlling the disease spread within the tree. Mike Riley Town of Mentz Historian