The Blight at the Orchard Gate

Wm. Meikle warns the orchardists against the spread of Fire Blight, the worst disease known to fruit trees. Thus far the Kennewick orchardists have been extremely fortunate, in that blight has not been allowed to get a serious foothold. The period of immunity, however, is past. Blight is here and it is imperative that every orchard owner shoulder arms and march against the foe. Blight has cost the orchardists of the Yakima Valley thousands of dollars and it will cost the farmers of the Kennewick and Richland districts just as much if drastic measures are not taken at once. In one orchard, the owner of which is one of the most careful and watchful farmers in the valley, more than thirty infected trees were found. Blight exists in Section Seven orchards, the Highlands orchards, and the Garden Tracts orchards. Every orchard owner should immediately make sure that he knows blight when he sees it and should give every tree in his orchard a rigid inspection every day. District Horticultural Inspector Powell should be here on the job. If his duties will not permit of his being here, the county commissioners should provide him with an assistant who can give his entire time to organizing and directing the fight against blight.