The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-07-17
TILLMAN and NUT.GRASS
AFTER A HARD TUssLE, THE CONGRESS-
MAN COMES OUT AHEAD.
He Gives Particulars as TO How lie
Got the Better of the Pest-.-1Ie is
the Only Man Who ever ''KnOcked
tho NniSance.

| 40
the Only Man Who ever ''KnOck ed
Out" the Nuisance.
| The plan Of cam paign to eXtirpate nut grass
is simply to prevent II maturing seed above
ground. Nearly everybody thinks the null
sance reproduces itself from the nut alone
| whereas 1t propagates thousand times more
! from the seed, which it generates on cuittva.
| ted fertile land almost as abundantly as crab
grass ITSELF and these Coco seed, like crab
grass seed, will lie dormant on or IN the
ground for years. or even ages, untli Lne SOL
| Shall be cultivated. Hence, to elfectually and
quickly destroy nut grass on any land In
| tested with it the soil should be frequetly
stirred during the growing period OF summer
so rs to stimulate each nut ana SEED 10 sproIt
and come up. 1t is waste of effort to attack
Coco in winter either by digging or plowing
or turning hogs on it. The best time for
fighting 1t is between midsummer and frost
time, although myriadS Of the sprlga viii
show itself above ground in a day or two
after each working OF the soll, even IN lhe
spring months, yet no seed stem Will shoot
up till late in the season ana the secret OF
down every tall seed stem while In the flow
ering stage ut the latest, and the sooner the
better
The old and most approved theory tor de-
stroying Coco, by cutting it off under the sur
face Of the ground every time sprig appears
above the surface is a useless expenditure of
labor. That method persisted In long
enough, will of course eradicate 1t, but at
what a cost of attention. patience and toll /!
The ground should be often stirred with
plow or hoe, from April till frost, AZ 6elore'
mentioned, to make every nut and seed come
up If possible and as soon as possible, but
there is no urgent necessity as far as eradieat-
ing the grass is concerned, to kill Its sprlgs
until they begin to shoot up seed stalks. For
this purpose 1t is only requisite TO ploW up or
chop down the grass at the regular intervals
of working Indian corn, collards or any other
crop. Still it is advisable to plant the land
in Some tall growing crop which shall neith-
er cover nor obscure some Coco SEED stem so
rs to prevent it being observed and de-
stroyed.
BY the above method two years are am
pie time in which to rid any ground Of Coco.
In fact. one season is sufficient to eradicate 1T
except that few scattering sprigs will show
themselves in subsequent years, which can
easily be prevented from going TO seed by
close attention. But this close attention
must be given in every instance to command
success. Coco is like the cookie bur In its
vigorous vitality. All corn planters on river
or creek low grounds know with what blood
hound persistence the cookie bur seeks to
propagate itself as the season advances and
the intensity OF the effort 10 reproduce itself
after It Is cut down Is In direct proportion
to the time remaining before frost. One bur
will sometimes mature seed on the very sur
face Of the ground in an Incredibly short
sistent at reproduction yet Its seed stalks
must be carefully hunted for and destroyed
as frost approaches. One cause that has
its sway at the South is that we have so few
crops which are hoed or plowed in the fall
of the year. This together with the popular
error that Coco propagates from the nut alone
explains the whole story Of It's universal trl-
mph over the patience, sweat, curses and
blows Of the millions who have warred on
1t.
BY pursuing the plan above hurriedly out.
lined, Mrs. Tilman has completely eXtirpated
nut gras from three different plats of ground
where it once held undisputed sway. What
caused her to conceive the proper plan OF
battle for desroying the grass was brought
about in this wise: About five years ago she
had two favorite squares in our large garden
broken up preparatory for spring vegetables,
but before sho could get the seed in the
ground the nut grass came up so thickly and
growed so rapidly and vigorously that she
despaired of being able to cope with 1t and
let The squares lie out the whole year. Dur.
ing the season the squares In question had
such n magnificent crop of hay-about half
nut and half crab grass, two feet or more
high-that she concluded to cut and cure 1t
for horse forage, securing two full mowings.
The next year the manure from the stable
was deposited in piles on other squares In
the garden and In cotton patches, where no
nut grass had ever been seen, and 10! in q
short while nut grass was as thick as 1t
could stand, wherever pile of the manure
had been put. From this she rightly rea-
soned that the nut grass hay was responsible
for it, that nut grass propagates from the seed
and that in the instance mentioned the seed
had passed undigested through the stock and
that If nut grass should be prevented from
tivating the land assldously to make
all the seed sprout, the dread pest would no
longer be pest
She has put her theory into successful prac.
tice of her own volition and 1 am rejoiced
that If could not solve one Of the problems
about nut grass which I undertook, was
lucky enough to find the woman for a wife
who could DO it and has done 1t. My pride in
| hnr p0nntprhDllnppE
modification Of my failure to conquer Coco
after seeking q combat with it. And al
though the Joke Is at my expense, yet II
every good housewife shall have as little
J trouble in managing nut grass and her hus
band as mine, l will be content.
Very truly,
G. y. TILLMAN.
Clark's Hill, S. c., June "a.