The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-09-09
FARM AND GARDEN.
The Infancy of Weeds.

A discourse on weeds is always in season
from early spring till December because they
are always growing or scattering their seeds
IN some way during this long period. And
the subject will not he exhausted, and hints
will not become needless, while their annual
cost TO the Union is five hundred million
dollars. or one fifth the value of all the agri.
cultural products of the country. This is
not an eXtravagant estimate, for in many
places the weeds eat out half the Crops, and
make the cultivation of what remains at leas,
double the cost of clean management
On looking back many years, we see the
progress which he's been made in the mode of
attacking them in successive gradatiOns.
Half century ago, the common injunction
was to "pull up and remove carefully those
which had gone to seed, to prevent the seed
ing of next years crop'-to "be careful not
to scatter the seed which had been already
borne in abundance. This was regarded as
good and careful management. But an I'M
provement was made on this mode, namely,
by not allowing the seed to ripen-thelr for
nation was to be preuented-and excellent
idea-it seemed to be under this improved
treatment, weeds were destroyed when half a
foot high, more or less. But observing Guilt
vators were not satisfied. They discovered
that the labor of roofing out these full'grown
or half-grOwn monsters was too great. 1hey
struck boldly therefore for the destruction OF
these lntruders while they were only an inch
high. The labor was decreased incredibly.
There Tas great difference in the force re-
quired to crush delicate little organization
as large as a cambria needle, and one foo.
high, with roots like strong horns branching
and penetrating the soil another foot, and
lifting the plants of the crop when torn out.
The improved mode iessened the labor ten,
twenty or thirty fold. The great point, there,
was to take the weeds in time, and it was
found to be better to pay man five dollars
day to destroy them in their feeble and deli
cate condition. than at fifty cents day when
stout and shading the whole crop.
But still further improvement was made
and this was to destroy the weeds before they
came up, when they were just beginning to
send out their minute white fibers from the
seed. In other words, the steel rake, fine
harrow, or cultivator IS passed over the sur
face while it is not yet perfectly clean. The
process consists IN simply mellowing thor
oughly the whole surface without waiting tor
any of them to make an incipient appearance.
Any one may easily estimate the compare
tive difference IN cost between these four
modes. Wait till the weeds rIpen their seeds,
and then carefully pull them up and place
them in heap; pull them up, or hoe, or
pillow them, when foot high; or destroy
them when a single stroke of the rake or
sweep of the harrow kills them by handred
at single movement; the last mode exceeds
in economy the first at least fifty or hundred
fold.
u We tried the experiment by the watch, of.
employing man to pass over certain bed
regularly once week with steel rrke and
brush the furface thoroughly; and to clean
the weeds from another bed once a month,
when they were half foot high, partly with
the hoe and partly by pulling them with his
gngers. We prefer to let each reader repeat
this himself as the experiment will vary in i
its results with circumstances, and should be |
tried by every one, for it will furnish distinct
ocular proof better than all theories and lee
lures.
1t is well worth while to contrast fnger
sceeding with the wholesale destruction by
means of the two-horse harrow. The con-
trast may be less striking in the garden bed,
where finger work is performed side by side
with the hand rake or the sharp hoe but on
a larger scale--on the broad acres of the farm,
the difference is enormous. The truth is, no
good farmer should ever nse hoe-or very
rarely. The summer faliow for eradicating
all foul stuff, where this has obtained posses
sion, is not sufficiently appreciated. What
are termed h0ed crops, are too costly when
cleaned by hand. The singlehorse cultiva-
tor is quite slow enough IN its work. Some
crops are made quite clean when small, ia a
rapid manner, by means of the smoothing
harrow which sweeps over the whole surface;
and all others, that is, when the land is not
already clean or canuot be treated with this
harrow to render it So should be occupied
with broadcast crops.
These remarks apply mostly to annual or
biennial weeds, such as rag'weed, fox-tail,
red.roOt, pig-weed or purslane. To clear foul
land it is necessary to pillow and harrow many
times, to bring up successfully the seeds
which lie at different depths, and which will
not terminate till brought to the air. But
perennialrooted weeks, as Canada thistle
milk.weeds, quack grass, ETC. which spread
mostly by the roofs. may be thoroughly Grad
icated IN siDg" season, and at little expense,
by blowing Oft II enough TO keep the leaves
perpetually under. While Canada hustle
and quack gras> have been easily rooted out
thus in four or i've months, the work being
thoroughly dou'. it would never be accom-.
plished if ocrs>unal cessation were permitted,
so that the plnl'S could get little breathing
spell above III" srface, the labor might con.
tinue 100 year "r more.
To recapitul 80" then, for annual weeds, kill
them in earlies' infancy, while minute and
fragile, and easily swept off by myriads: md
for perernals never let a solitary leaf ap
pear above the surface, and the work will be
speedily and cheaply accompl;shed.-COuH-
try Gentlemen.