The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-04-28
Something Of Interest to Every Dairy.
man aud Farmer.
ONE OF THE WORST PLAGUE WEEDS
Valuable Information Contained in n
Recent Circular Sent Out by the
United states Department of Agri-
cuiture--Of Especial Pertinency in
Wayne, Wyoming and Susquehanna
Counties.


known to townspeople as dishguring |
lawns, to farmers and millers as a
pest In wheat. and to dairymen and
their customers as running dairy pro-
ducts when eaten by cows in the pas
tures. In different parts of the region
where 1t grows in this country it is
called wild garlic" and wild onion"
and less frequently field garlic" and
Grow garlic"
Wild garlic is not native in this
country. but was introduced at an ear
ly date from the old world. The ear
liest writings distinguishing it from
other species mention it as growing in
fields and vineyards in Germany and
France. One of the earliest authentic
records of it's presence in America is
contained in Pursh's American Flora,
published in 1914, in which it is said to
be "in old fields: common" Between
1914 and 1925, several authors, writing
on the plants of this country, state that
this species was abundant and trouble
some from New York to Virginia
DESCRIPTION.
Wild garlic is a perennial plant, pro-
pagating almost exclusively by means
Of secondary underground bulbs and
aerial bulblets. The form which is
most abundant in America rarely pro-
duceS seeds. In lawns and pastures
where the tops are not allowed to de-
velop, wild garlic reprOduces itself by
the small secondary bulbs or Gloves"
developing at the base Of the old bulb.
These may be found in clusters at a
depth of from three to ten inches be-
low the surface of the ground. Soon
after the fall rains they send up tufts
of blue-green shoots. These shoots re-
main green, apparently little injured
by the cold or winter The bulbs,
which in autumn are but little larger
than grains of wheat, grow during the
winter to the size of common peas or
larger, and in spring new bulbs are
formed at their bases.
In grain fields, meadows and places
where the tops are undisturbed, wild
garlic propagates by aerial bulblets,
like the "sets" of cultivated onions,
as we'll as by the underground second
| airy bulbs. The flower-bearing stem,
| put forth in May or early June, is from
| ten to thirty inches tall. The flowers,
varying from greensh-white to red
| dish-purple, are about one-siXteenth of
an inche long in simple umbels. The
| seeds, when present, are black, fiat,
| triangular, shiveled, and about one
sixteenth of an inch in length. The
| flowers are usually followed by the
aerial bulblets, forty to one hundred
| and twenty growing on each plant.
| Meanwhile secondary bulbs have been
| growing beneath the bulb in the
ground, and thus the multiplication
of the species is abundantly provided
for.
OTHER SPECIES.
There are about fifty native species
| of onion in the United States, and
some of these are frequently mistaken
| for wild garlic. They all have the
same disagreeable odor, but this is usu-
ally less strong than in wild garlic
The most common of them grow OF
low, wet land, and die out when thC
land is cultivated, while the wild gar
lie thriVes well on high land or IL
dry soil, and often increases under or
binary cultivation. All of the other
species east of the Rocky mountain!
may be distinguished from wild garlic
by having the leaves fiat or channeleC
on one side instead of round, or th'
flowers more than one-SiXth of an incl
long, or the flower cluster bent over t,
one side instead of erect, or the coat
of the bulb fbrous instead of mem
braneous.
DAMAGE CAUSED.
The flesh of animals which have eat
en- wild garlic for some time in TIL
pasture is tainted with garlic flavo
, | and rendered unmarketable, unless tn
animals are fec on a diet free from |
for several days before slaughtering.
The milk of cows eating wild gar!i
in the pasture has the strong, un
, wholesome flavor of garlic and an
food containing the garlic-favore
milk is unpalatable. Cream rising iron
the milk has the flavor apparently in
tensifed and butter made from tn
cream Is worthless. The skmme
milk, clabber, and smearcase, or cot
tage cheese, are also spoiled. Garlic
favored milk can not be used for max
| ing standard cheese-in fact, there
no way of disposing of it except feed
/, ing it to stock and selling it to tn
few people who do not object to tn
flavor,
The period of growth of wild garli
comedies almost exactly with that {
rye and winter wheat, and the bulblet
are mature at the time these grains al
harvested. As a large proportion {
the bulblets are of about the same s2
and weight as wheat grains 1t is impos
sible to separate them either by sieve
0 or fans unless kept until winter, whe
the bulblets freeze and dry uD, Carl
p bulblets ground with wheat impart
q the -four their strong flavor, which rel
: | ders unpalatable bread, cake, pastr,
n and everything made with the hOu
h The effect on rye -four is practical
q the same. Rye and wheat needed fC
: seeding purposes should be CAREFUL
. kept free from garlic bulblets,
I When garlic bulblets are ground wit
# wheat or rye they not only spoil II
, -four, but they cause a further II
a Jury by forming a varnish-like coatir
l., on the rollers. This interferes with II
: grinding and makes ii necessary
Y shut down the mill until the gum
If washed off, a process taking from tt
~ to twenty minutes for each pair
4 rollers. 1t Is even worse on the buh
J. stones than on the steel rollers, as
q gums the burs, imparts its flavor
p all the -four, and prevents good grin,
y ing until it Is removed by dressing Il
" burs.
; The disbursement of lawns Is of le
l. Importance than the damages alreaC
mentioned, but the presence of the ga
n lie Is an offense to the eye of anyol
l. who takes pride in an even greenswaT
lt and TO the nostrils of anyone who d
I lights I'm the odor of new-mown gras
!" METHODS OF ERADICATION.
in Manv methods for eTadicating wi