The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1910-02-11
TO Fight the
WHITEFLY PEST
Prominent Crescent City Orange
Grower Urges United
Action.

/ up 10 the present llnC suffered less tnan
! the growers in other sections OF the state
from the curse OF the whitefly pest, but
the pest is getting a hold in the county,
and unless there is united and prompt
action on the part OF the growers 10 pre-
vent spread great damage will be done
! the coming crop.
AT Crescent City, f. H. Williams, one
OF the big growers OF oranges, has taken
the matter in hand of rouSing the people
to action, and has issued the following
notice:
"The undersigned respectfully asks the
attention of the property owners to the
following article by Prof. Rolls in last
weeks Florida AgriculturiSt In my
opinion, if all will cooperate in remov-
| ing chinaberry and umbrella trees, we
may be able to do something TO control
! the situation; but with these trees stand
ing the spread of the whitefly will be
so rapid any effort at control in the
community will be hopeless, and all that
can be done will be for each man to
| fight il on his own property the best he
can. The general spread OF whitefly in
this community by decreasing crops, in
jury to trees, and shutting fruit would
cut the value of the annual orange crop
nearly 50 per cent, loss affecting all
business that Crescent City can ill afford
to stand. "E II. WILLIAMS"
The following is the article by which
P. Fl. Rolls, director of Florida Expert
ment station, TO which Mr.. Williams
calls attention:
"There is no other species of tree or
plant in Florida which is responsible for
the propagation of so many billions Of
whitefly as the chinaberry. In the spring
of the year the whitefly are drawn in
Stinctively towards these trees and null
tiply there with astonishing rapidity In
fact, medium sized umbrella tree will
be likely to hold all the way from ten
millinS to twenty millions of whitefly by
the end of August, provided il stands in
an infested district. In the fall, the in
sectS instinctively migrate away from the
umbrella tree and millions of flying in
sects are thus turned loose to infeSt every
nook and corner within wide radius
from the umbrella tree.
"Whether we should cut down our UNI
brella trees or let them stand is purely a
question that must be weighed between
sentiment and dollars. Dollars say en-
phatically that the umbrella tree is a
menace. This has been proven too many
times TO need to be reiterated. Tens of
thousands of dollars have been spent by
the state and federal governments to
gather specific information on the white
fly question:; and, without exception,
those who have given the matter serious
consideration have pronounced the
chinaberry and umbrella trees an unmiti- |
gated nuisance in whitefly sections. The
smaller and beautiful cities along the
Seaboard railroad from Jacksonville to
Pensacola have been for a number of
years scourged with this pest. During
July and August ii is frequently impos-
Sible for women and children to enjoy
the cool afternoons and evenings, so
many billions of whitefly are present in
the atmosphere. Ninety per cent of
these whitefly, and in many cases nearly |
hundred per cent, are bred in the
chinaberry and umbrella trees
ALREADY the chinaberry and umbrella
trees have been the indirect cause of the
loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars
10 citrus growers in Florida. Repeatedly |
the scientists have traced the source OF
distribution to some worthless and neg |
leCted Chinaberry or umbrella tree. 1t
therefore behooyeS us TO join hands with |
the citrus grower and do all that we can
to suppress or eXterminate the umbrella |
and chinaberry trees. The citruS-growing
industry, whose property is now worth
over A hundred million dollars to our
state can we'll receive our co-operation
and svmpatby. Every citizen of the state
should do ali he can TO improve the citrus
conditions. as il means the bringing into
the state of from five TO ten million dol |
lars of good cash every wear.
at should be remembered that out of
the thousands of species of plants that
grow in Florida. less than thirtv snecieS
both native and introduced, are known
to be food.plants of the whitefIv, II
would be lust as sensible TO accuse
harbed wire fence or the gIohe of an in.
candescent LIGHT of breeding the white
flv nc To accuse every bush on which
winged whitefly happens 70 rest. Ere.
ouentlv these little pests come TO rest ON
the globes of incandescent LIGHTS in such
numbers that thew materially reduce the
light that is qiyen off vet no one would
accuse tbe incandescent light Of being
hreeder of wbitefIv The freouant stafa-
ment that our hammocks and bavheads
are full of wbiteflv is founded on bearsov
ard NOT nm direct observationS One ri
our most comnetent entomologists ot one
time offered five dollars reward IN he
shown a oaIlberrv hush Infested with the
citrus wbiteflv. but no one was ahIc to
find The citrus wbiteflv breeding on
oaIIbnrrv hnsb This hush is verv fre'
9uentIv accused Of being a breeder of the
wbitefly. hut the accusation is moi founded
on fact
"T is boped that all of the railroads of
the state will follow the spIendid lead
taken bv the A, G. /, and The s A
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