While not a about Black Sig, here is a story from out local paper about a citrus disease going around:
Doomed lemon trees leave man a bit bitter - The Post and Courier
Doomed lemon trees leave man a bit bitter
If life gives you lemons, don't tell the state.
They will not offer you any lemon aid.
Pat Mellen learned that the hard way, when Clemson extension agents showed up at his downtown house recently with a leaf plucked off one of his lemon trees.
While passing by, they noticed the tree — which sits behind the wall around his house — appeared to be infected with citrus greening, a disease that U.S. officials fear could devastate the nation's citrus crops all the way to California. Already, the disease has taken a toll on crops in Asia, Africa and South America.
Mellen said his mistake was letting them in, where they found traces of the disease on both his trees. Now, they are slated to be cut down and Mellen has no recourse, no way to appeal the decision.
He's had one of the trees for 16 years, and every year it gives him two bushels of the sweetest lemons you ever tasted.
"If I was a serial killer moving state to state on my way to California, I'd have more rights than I do right now," Mellen said Friday, just before agents showed up to spray his trees — a precursor to cutting them down. "I offered to let them use one of the trees for testing, asked them to let me have one more season, but they said no."
Chris Ray, head of Clemson's Department of Plant Industry, said there is little he can do. The state is under quarantine, and the law says they must destroy any infected tree, lest it help the disease — carried by bugs the size of gnats — to spread.
In a recent canvass of downtown Charleston, they only found the disease in two places: Mellen's house and another private residence a few blocks away.
"We don't relish the idea of going and cutting anyone's trees, but that's the only thing we can do," Ray said. "We couldn't bring them back to health. They're going do die. It's a matter of when, not if."
Mellen is upset because lemon trees take a long time to grow, and he fears he'll never have another one. Of the two trees, one produces a number of lemons, and they still taste great. Eating fruit off trees with the disease won't hurt you, but the disease discolors the fruit.
Mainly, Mellen feels helpless, and is understandably not a fan of laws you can't argue against. But that's the government.
He got a brief reprieve Friday, when agents decided it was too windy to spray. But they will be back. Nothing can save his trees. Mellen is trying not to be as bitter as store-bought lemons.
"I have nothing against Clemson," Mellen said, "but I wish they could play football."