The War Over 'Tubermoth' Potatoes
A Seattle judge rules on a heated legal clash between California berry growers and Washington state horticultural inspectors over tainted crops.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the right of the state horticultural department to condemn potatoes shipped in from outside the state when they are afflicted in the slightest degree with tubermoth was upheld by Superior Judge Kenneth Mackintosh at Seattle. The judge dismissed a suit for $1,600 in damages brought by the Los Angeles Berrygrowers' Association against F. A. Huntley, a former state horticultural inspector, because he had condemned two carloads of infected California potatoes last fall.
“The right of the state horticultural department to condemn potatoes shipped in from outside the state when they are afflicted in the slightest degree with tubermoth was upheld.”
This legal skirmish over agricultural biosecurity highlights the ongoing tension between interstate commerce and local environmental regulation. Just as growers fought the condemnation of their crops in 1914, Washington agricultural sectors continue to navigate complex pest-quarantine rules that protect the state's multi-billion dollar farming economy.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.