The Orchard Police are Watching
County officials are cracking down on homeowners who neglect their trees, warning that diseased orchards threaten the collective profits of the community.
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.
County Horticulturalist Luke Powell was in town the first of the week rounding up all the property owners who have paid no attention to spraying their trees. This is no more than right, as a man may spend a hundred dollars spraying his orchard and if the fellow across the street leaves a few measly trees unsprayed, all the disease from these may be carried to the orchard where every effort has been made to keep everything right up to the mark. So, if you haven't sprayed you can look for a notice from those in authority and it will be up to you to get busy or take the consequences.
“If the fellow across the street leaves a few measly trees unsprayed, all the disease from these may be carried to the orchard.”
Public health and safety in the orchard industry has always been a collective civic responsibility in the Tri-Cities. This 1917 warning about 'disease' and 'spraying' mirrors modern-day debates about agricultural regulation and the economic impact of invasive pests on a city built around agriculture.
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