The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1915-11-26
THE CANKER MENACE
TO CITRUS FRUIT.
Its Origin and Spread in
Florida-May Wipe Out
Industry.

lIluuoIly.
This disease, as best can be learned
from reliable authorities, is native of
Korea, and from that country found
its way into Japan and the Philip
pine Islands. From Japan it was in
PRODUCED into the United States on a
shipment of nursery stock passing
through the custom house of the Unit
ed States government-the importa-
ton being made by nursery concern
in Texas. From Texas it was
brought into Florida on shipment
of nursery seedlings and first made
its appearance in the vicinity of MI
ami, Dade county, and Monticello,
jefferson county, about three years
ago. 1t is prevalent today in Alaba-
ma, Mississippi and Louisiana, where
it no doubt spread from Texas.
Students of horticulture, experts of
the Department of Agriculture of the
United States, as well as recognized
authorities in Japan, have devoted
much time to the study of this dis
ease, and so far as cure or method
of control is concerned they are IN
the same position as our leading med
ical authorities occupy as to tubercu"
losis-nothing has been found which
will effect a cure. 1t thrives IN spite
of the Bordeaux mixture, which IS
the strongest known solution we can
apply to our trees.
To sum up a very interesting ad-
dress by DR.. W. T. Swingle, of the
Department of Agriculture, delivered
at Gainesville, Florida, October 9Th,
1915. upon the occasion of the Citrus
Seminar, he stated that his only rec.
concentration for the permanent ex-
termination of citrus canker is de-
struction by fire of the groves in
which infections exist and isolation of
the area for a sufficient length of
time to make sure the bacteria in
the soil have been killed before the
land is replanted.
The disease discovered in Dade and
jefferson counties was unknown and
it's destructiveness not suspected, con-
seuuently proper quarantine OF the
nurseries could not be legally enforc-
ed. AS soon as the dangerous nature
of the disease was known, rigid quar-
antine was at once established, but
previous to this time more than five
hundred shipments from the infected
nurseries had been made to almost as
many different localities in this state.
With very little exact knowledge
upon which to work the growers of
Dade county began their fight
against this new disease. AS it was
somewhat similar in appearance to dis
eases that could be controlled by
spraying, that method was first used
but it was soon found that none of
the known sprays were successful
The trees were cut back to the trunks
and larger branches and then painted
with a strong fungicide or germicide
but when the new growth appeared
it was infected as badly as ever
and it was then found that in the
work of pruning, the disease had
been spread by means of the tools
hands and clothing of the workmen
AS last resort, the growers begar
to burn the infected trees, using al
oil spray on the principle of gi
gantic blow torch. In this way thu
tree was consumed and the grounC
around it sterilized. This methot
proved effective in the determination
of the infected tree, but the cost o:
searching out infections and burning
them was very difficult and expen
sive task.
From two small infections, one il
north Florida and the other in soutl
Florida, which were brought into thu
state in November, 1911, the disease
has spread to such an extent that tt
date it has been found in seventeen
counties of .Florida-from Santa Ro