The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-03-16
Weeds-Where Do They Come From!

A correspondent inquiries: "Why is
It that gardens which have been kept
clear of weeds for years will be. each
they come from?"
A good many have asked this gues-
ton before. and it is one of the puzzling
th, nos in nature to those who have new
er given it careful study. Now, how
many seeds will single weed produce
Let us see. 1t s found by invest ga
ton that the common mayweed is set
down for $4,000, the daisy for Is. 5 0.
the dandelion for 5000. the dock for
$4,000, the thistle for 900 o. the cookie
for 1900, the mustard for 5000. the
burdock. 26, 100, etc, etc. Each of
these seeds is so thoroughly projected
by its hard shell that it is possible for
it to lie in the earth for long series OF
years-no one can tell how long-w tn
out any damage to the germ of life with
in. 1t only needs sunshine and air to
develop it Imagine. now, a field OF
thousands of separate specimens of any
one of the weeds named. or others re-
side, and see the millions of germs that
must be launched on the world each fall,
to be scattered by the winds in every
direction. Evidently some weed seeds
must be indestructible, for varieties not
before seen spring up when the ground
has been freshly turned-deposited
there no one can tell how long be ore.
A piece O. new breaking will demon
strate this, producing, as it Almost in
variably will, the well known tumble
weed" ali entirely new weed to the To-
cality. A year 70 last fall we seeded
down field to timothy and clover that
ha failed to catch in the spring. There
had been a patch of smart-weed in a low
portion of it which had gone to seed.
As every resident of Minnesota will re-
member, the season was extremely wet.
1t rained almost continuously from the
list OF September till the ground wa
froze, and il would seem as if every in.
d6vidual seed of that smart weed which
had cen set atoat had sprouted, for u
the spring the whole field was so thick
fy coated with this pest that the grass
seed could scarcely be seen. AS soon
as it had grown enough so that it could
be cut it was moved down, this process
kent up through the summer. The TIM
othy and clover finally got start, and
by fall there was a good stand of it,
But the immense quantity of smart
weed that had started from the original
small patch, was a mystery almost un-
accountable. The wet season had de-
veloped them and showed what myri-
ad had been set a1oat from a small cen.
ter. In field some distance away. the
year before, was patch of .buil
thistles." The air was filled with the
downy seeds for DAYS after they were
ripe, and the ground in every direction
was thickly covered with white carpet
of seeds. We expected to see about a
million of new th stiles last year. but
fortunately they d d not sprout, though
the seeds will, many of them undoubt-
eddy lie dormant to spring up at some
future time when the conditions are IA
vorable. The moral of all this is that
constant Wig lance is the price of clean
fields. An hours work on the young
shoots is equivalent to days labor lat
er on; and the farmer can take what
comfort he chooses from the thought
that there are buried millions of fresh
weeds still unsprouted, ready to come
up smiling, just as soon as he folds his
hands for q rcSt.-t. Pau Press.