Blight Week in Benton County
District Horticultural Inspector Luke Powell calls for a county-wide agricultural mobilization to combat orchard blight.
The story, cleaned up
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District Horticultural Inspector Luke Powell, who headed the campaign against blight last year, is determined that this pest shall not steal a march on the orchardists this year, and for this reason, he has inaugurated a 'Blight Week.' Every orchardist in the county will be asked to cooperate and not only free his own orchard of the disease but to assist his neighbor in a similar effort. The last week in February has been set aside for waging this anti-blight war. Mr. Powell has issued the following call to arms: 'Let the ranchers lay aside all their cares, joys, and troubles and devote that week to hunting and cutting the blight out of his neighbor's as well as his own orchard. Remember a stitch in time saves nine. A little time spent at this work now will save days of labor later on, as well as your orchards. Let the organizations get busy. Complete every detail and be ready to celebrate Washington’s birthday by striking at the blight with such a vengeance that we will wipe it off the face of Benton county.'
“Let the ranchers lay aside all their cares, joys, and troubles and devote that week to hunting and cutting the blight.”
Orchard management remains a foundational industry in the Tri-Cities area. This militant approach to agricultural disease highlights the high stakes of early fruit farming, where a single outbreak could jeopardize the entire regional economy.
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