Dutch Elm Disease

Elm bark beetles, innocent in themselves, are carriers of a disease that rapidly turns a stately elm into a shrivelled skeleton. A deadly fungus, the infection blocks off water moving from roots to leaves. Scenes of fieldmen locating and spraying diseased trees, and laboratory workers preparing cultures of suspect twig samples, show the efforts being made by Dominion and Provincial governments to save the elm for posterity, while the owners of infected trees are urged to check the spread of the fungus by destroying the diseased elms immediately.