The War on Rotting Spuds
A state agricultural expert warns farmers that the 1914 potato blight is more destructive than ever.
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.
Professor O. M. Morris, of the Agricultural Experiment Station at Pullman, states that the indications are that many growers will lose heavily if they place many potatoes in storage. The late blight was active in many fields and the potatoes grown therein are sure to keep poorly in storage. They may look sound and clean, but rot quickly. The dry rot, also called root rot, infests the entire plant underground; the potatoes may look sound but be rotting under the skin at the stem end. There is nothing that can be done to check the progress of the disease in storage. The only thing that can be done is to select sound potatoes from clean fields.
“The potatoes may look sound and clean, but rot quickly when stored. There is no process of storage that will prevent this rot.”
Potato blight remains a persistent concern for Pacific Northwest farmers, bridging the gap between historical agricultural advice and modern sustainable farming efforts in Washington.
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