OCR Text |
Show AN IMPORTED DISEASE, Our-fa'rmers should read the warning issued by Harrv B. Shaw, government pathologist, which appears in this issue of the Standard Stand-ard under, the heading, "Utah Beet Crop Is Now in Danger." , Mr. Shaw has been in the local field three seasons studving - i ' " the diseases of plant life and investigating tho beet growing in- r dustry. He perhaps is the best informed man in the country on farming conditions in the Ogden district. His investigations have convinced him that if crop rotation is not practjeed 'to a greater extent thanahcrefofore, at lcaht one or two plant diseases will infest the farms 't such an extent as to greatly reduce-'the returns from the soil and make eradication a serious prpblcm. w Mr. 'Shaw warns the beet farmers in particular against the menace of the beet nematode, an eel-like worm that has done gveat damage in Europe, has rendered hundreds of acres of valuable California beet land almost worthless for further beet culture and has been introduced into several localities in Utah, one of which is the Ogden district. The government official does not write in an alarming way; he simply states the facts without drawing on his imagination; but the facts as disclosed are in themselves sufficiently alarming to compel attention and force the farmers to heed the warning before , it is too late. The remedy, simple and inexpensive, in fact profitable, is ro- ' tation of crops, -a system which should be followed where there is no menace of disease and even where crops are abundant, as proper crop rotatioiFcnrichcs the soil. |