The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1893-11-30
FARM NOTES.
johnson Grass Pest

oAo lu1rouucClOn OF Johnson grass, aHC
the responsibility therefor lies almost
solely with the agricultural press Of
the state, as farmers very properly
presumed that the editors of these ma,
pers knew what they were talkine
about when they recommended it=
The miserable stuff has not one re.
deemlng feature, as on good land Col.
orado bottom grass will prodnce ,oors
ieeo over a series of years and not in
ter1ere seriously with tine cultivation
OF crops. AS meadow Johnson grass
is failure, rarely producing a heavy
yleld after the ground is once evenly
set' usually about the second year af-
ster planting; but with plenty of room,
as IN scattered patches in cultivated
neld, no plant on earth, not even the
pestlferous cockleburr, can keep the
pace it sets.
Mr. A. Y. Walton Jr., the well known
proprietor of Minita ranch in Bexar
county, who has been seriously hurt
oy the lnsiduous nuisance, pours forth
heartfelt waila follows:
Editor Stockman and Farmer;
have had 10 years experience with
johnson grass, and pronounce it the
greatest curse an agricultural people
were ever afflicted with. The cues.
lion Is not what are we going to do
with johnson grass, but what is John
son grasJ going to do with us? | pre-
dict that IN less than 30 years Texas
farmers won't be talking about silver
or the tariff, but how to kill down the
Internal stuff. Like great many bad
things, 1t has number of good quail
Ties, but they are so far outbalanced
by the bad ones as to be hardly worth
consideration. We all know it makes
splendid hay, and one crop certain
every year and sometimes three or
four, but there it ends.
This is what it is doing for the far.
mer, 1t is taking every foot of field
land. orchard and garden where it is
introduced, and it is easy to introduce
It,. Nearly all the oats and small grain
raised in the state contain some seed.
and when man plants them and gets
a fine stand of grass he can tell where
1t came from. The winds also blow it
over the country, the birds carry it
around and water helps to spread it,
as in irrigating bitches.
just across from me there is an irri-
gated field of 300 acres almost taken
up by the grass, and the owner has
thrown two-thirds of it out and
pastures his stock on it. The balance
is rented by Italian gardeners, who are
as hard workers as one can find, and
who intend giving it up and NOV
ing away. as they can't keep
it down. They come nearer doing it
with cotton than any other crop, be,
cause they can pillow it all summer, but
it kills corn before it gets a foot high.
If you have any of the grass on your
place and use it your manure is worth
less, and that is enough to condemn it,
| have read that if cut before fully
headed out it will give no trouble that
way. 1t is nonsense. There are al
ways few stray heads that lie close
to the ground, that ripen before the
rest and fill your hay with nice, sound
seed ready to sprout when given only
half a chance. There is only one crop
that | have ever heard of that will
grow with it and that is oats, when
planted early in the fall. l have tried
sugar cane and the grass killed it out
in three successive years. Where far
mers have this grass they should unite
and try to find some sure way of ex-
terminating it, and where it has not
been introduced they should be care
full, and should a stray sprig OF it get
started dig it out.
l have seen various ways recon-
mended to kill it: first by pasturing it
out. F. H. Hord has field near here
of some so or go acres, that was thrown
out and pastured three or four years
with horses. | have seen 200 at time
on it and it looked like it was all gone,
but last year they plowed and planted
it and the johnson grass came up as
smiling as ever all over the field. | be-
lieve a person can come nearer getting
rid of it by continual blowing in the
summer, than any other way. l have
plowed piece five times this year, and
it seems as il most of it was dead, but
an occasional sprig keeps coming up in
spite of the fact that we have had no
rain since June.
But suppose man does kill it out of
his field, the next year it will get full
of seed again from plants around the
field that could not be got at and the
following year you will have some
more blowing to do. l am going to
try planting piece of oats in the fall
and blowing up land after oats are cut
and running stock on it the balance OF
the year. 1t can be kept down that
way at least. l think if one wants to
kill it by blowing it should be plowed
and cross.plowed very deep and then
the ground has chance to dry down
to a great depth.
This grass has nearly taken our farm
and l intend turning it over entirely
to it with the exception OF enough to
raise what corn we need, provided !
can keep it killed out. But it is not
every man that can utilize all his Land
for hay, and that is where the trouble
comes. We have to have other crops
besides hay or we will be in worse
fix than we are now with cotton,
sslPhe agricultural papers OF Texas
should take this question up ana ny
and undo as much as possible the
harm done, for they did more than
ANYTHING else in inducing farmers 10
plant the grass.
To Save Pork In Texas.
,.1i.-.-..,,oo 10 noor al h6nd. ana