Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1913-08-09
STATE COMMISSION
Authorities Have Placed Mr.. A. X.
Perry In Charge Of Berkeley
County.

reriy ~ thaF9e 81 Berkeley
County.
tBy w. b Rumsey, State Entomolo-
ist)
In accordance with the State Crop
Pest Law passed by the last leglsla-
ture Mr.. A. X. Perry has been ap
pointed Inspector OF orchards and 9TH.
er premises in Berkeley county.
As a general rule the fruit growers
of this section are we'll informed con
corning the San Jose sca e, peach yell
Iowa and black rot. and their or
ehards are kept reasonably free from
these troubles; however. there are
still many places in the county where
the general farmer and owners Of city
and village lots have comparatively
few fruit trees which may be and
often are breeding places for danger
ously injurious insects and plant dis
eases. All such places should be
visited by the Inspector. the premises
carefully examined and If dangerous
insects and diseases are found ar
rangements made with the owners to
have thes Infested trees treated or DE.
stroyed. Any person knowing Of q
neglected orchard that is breeding
trouble for the neighborlood should
report the fact to the I9dal aiapaetdr
who viii, as soon al possible, take
up the matter with the owner and
have the public nuisance removed.
The paramount question which, at
present, confronts the people of the
eastern panhandle is the best method
OF preventing damage to apple or
chards by cedar rust Spraying for
this trouble has not proven salts
factory means OF control, and owing
to the great Importance that apple
growing has assumed in West vir,
ginia heroic efforts should be made
to stamp out this menace to the fu.
ture apple industry of the state, It
has been proven beyond doubt that
the common red cedar Is responsible
for the rust Of the apple 1t Is also
an established fact that this disease
has two host plants namely, the red
cedar and the apple. On the former
the trouble j. called Cedar apples
or balls" and on the latter II takes,
the name ofrust, Or 'cedar rust N
Iis the spring ofS19or the writer, -NasI
sent 10 Berkeley and Jefferson coun-
ties by the Experiment station TO ex-
plain to the fruit growers the serious,
ness Of the presence Sof San Jose
scale In their orchards, to teach them
how to recognize Il. and to explain
the best known, methods Of control,
Twelve years later the Crop Pest
Commission hasssent men into the
same territory. the principle object
Of which is to enllghten the people
concerning the cedar rust and how
to mitigate its destructive effect up
on apple orchards. 1t is earnestly
hoped that this work win receive as
hearty cooperation from the people
as did the fight against the San Jose
scale.
In passing we must not overlook
the fact that another plant disease
is threatening the resources Of West
Virginia the chestnut blight. This
trouble has already been located by
government experts at several points
in the eastern panhandle. The chest
nut bark disease has killed the chest
nut timber in the greater part Of New
York state, in New Jersey, Delaware,
eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland,
and northern Virginia. Besides this,
scattered infections have been located
as far out as southern New Hamp-
shire, western Pennsylvania, and the
northern portion of North Carolina.
Recogn'z ing the destructive ness of
the chestnut bark disease the Crop
Pest Commission and the commission
err OF Agriculture have both set aside
limited amount OF their appropria-
lion for combating this trouble,