The Palatka news and advertiser., 1917-09-21
SWEET POTATO CROP
THREATENS BY PEST
Prof. Rolls of Food Prepar'
edness Commission
Sounds Warning.

Now it is the sweet potato crop OF
Florida that is threatened with deVaS-
tation by the invasion of a destruc-
tive insect pest. The sweet potato
root weevil has been found to occur
in four widely separated areas in the
State and in each locality where It
has been established for three years
or more it has made the profitable cul-
ture of the sweet potato impossible
In fact, in the infested localities the
farmer finds it difficult to raise even
enough sweet potatoes for the use OF
his family.
This menace is being regarded with
the gravest concern by the State
Plant Board for perhaps no crop IN
Florida is of as great Importance IN
supplying food to our people. The
poorer class of people, particularly,
look to the sweet potato crop as their
principal food supply. The adoption,
by the gvernment, of the sweet pota-
to as one of the regular articles in
the menu of our troops also makes
! the preservation and increase Of the
sweet potato crop one of the most
important steps in the national de-
fense
The pest is not new to the south
ern states, having been known in the
southern portion of Louisiana for the
past twenty years. Experience IN
that State and in Texas has shown
that at all infested points within SIX
ty or seventy miles Of the Gulf Coast
the pest continues to destroy practl-
cally the entire sweet potato crop
year after year. No satisfactory
measures of controlling it have been
found. There are also infested areas
of greater or less extent in Missls-
sppi, Alabama and Georgia and the
pest is evidently very abundant in
Cuba.
State Plant Commissioner Wilmon
Newell has been active for several
months, investigating the extent OF
infested areas in Florida, the means
bv which the weevil is spread to new
localities and in placing before the
Plant Board plans for stopping Its
further spread.
1t has been found, for example, that
shipments of sweet potato tubers an@
vines, infested with the weevll, have
been coming into Florida from othe
States and sack after sack of infest
ed potatoes and vines have arrived q
Key West and Tampa on vessels iron
Cuha. Whenever these infested
shipments have been detected by tn
inspectors of the Plant Board the,
have either been sent back or destroy
ed, but it is manifestly ir1poacible TO
the Plant Board inspectors to see eV
cry shipment of plants and potatoe
cominr into Florida In such infest
ed shipments lies the greatest DANCE
of the pest becoming established l
new localities. After considerm
this situation in all its aspects tn
Plant Board came to the concluslo
that the Florida farmers could not b
protected against this pest unless tn
shipment of sweet potatoes and plant
into the State was stopped. AccorC
ing, at its meeting on Aug. l3, 19l
the Board adopted "Rule 32," whlc
prohibits the importation of sweet pt
tato plants and vines from all state
and countries. While this quaral
tine will shut off the steady influx
weevil-infested material which hS
been coming into the State, it will NJ
work any hardship on Florida cltizel
for the State always has produce
more sweet potatoes than are needt
for its own use and there is no occ
sion to import sweet potatoes. Pr
vision is made in the new Quarantn
rule for the importation of limit'
amounts of new or rare varieties u
der special permits issued by Il
Plant Commissioner, Gainesville, Flo
ida.