Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-08-25
NO. "a
A Bad Weed.
The Vermont Experiment station Sends
Out warning and Information About
the "DevII's Paint-Brush."


The Vermont Experiment station Sends
Out Warming and Information About
the "DevITs PaInt-Brush,"
The experiment station at Burlington
has sent out this bulletin of information:
One Of the worst weeds in Vermont, northern
New York and adjoining territory Is the Orange
Hawkweed or Paint Brush. 10 is comparatively
new, having been introduced In recent years, and
is gaining ground very rapidly In localities favor
able to it. It is a European plant, and is not
garded as bad weed in its native land. IL was
brought over from Europe as a flower garden
plant. and is still sometimes sold by seedsmen
and planted by gardeners ia Europe and America.
The first plants in Vermont came from seeds
distributed as q premium by one Of the leading
agricultural journals OF New York state. Within
the last decade the plant has been spreading as q
weed In an alarming manner. Investigations at
| the Vermont experiment station have shown that
| 1t is already the worst weed known in some parts
| OF Vermont, and is continuing each year TO in
| wade new areas. II is easily recognized by its
| 1ame-red flowers and spreading hairy leaves. The
| first blossoms open In June. II these are moved
| it continues to send up scattering flower stalks
| during the rest of the summer. Fortunately
clean cultivation will kill i wherever It is prac-
ticed. One of the serious difficulties is that the
weed is allowed to spread along many roadsdes
to the menace of the adjacent farm lands.
The really great danger, however is that 1t rap
| idly invades the rocky soil Of hill pastures and
when once fully established IN such places it is
practically impossible to exterminate IL. The
| owners of such heldsshould carefully guard them
| against IL. Every plant found should be promptly
| uprooted or, better STILL killed out by salt The
weed is very sensitive to salt, which should be
scattered broadcast so as to reach the leaves of
| all plants. II not too much salt is used 1t may
serve fertilizer to the grass The salt does
| not act poison, but kills the weeds by draw
| ing the water out of the leaves In order to act
most thoroughly, therefore, dry salt mot brine)
should be spplied, aud this should be done during
| dry, hot weather.
We have not learned that this weed has
obtained hold in this part of Vermont.
1t certainly has not done so in way to
come to general notice, but the farmers
will do well TO be or the lookout for it. One
who has not seen the Devils paint-brush"
getting in its work has no idea how COM
sion of the soil. The writer has seen on
remote hill lands, in an Orleans county
town, the present summer, places where
this weed has so covered the ground with
its hairy leaves, lying close to the soil, that
every particle of other vegetation has been
driven out. So thick is the mat that 1t
would be impossible for even a spear of
grass TO make its way up through. A field
of which the white daisies have taken pos
session is rather hopeless looking case
from an agricultural point of view, but the
daisies are not circumstance to the paint
brush in this respect. Seen from little
distance the blossoms look in the mass lit
orally like burst of flame.
The farmers in the section here referred
to think the weed came from the West in
grain. We we're told by one farmer that
in plowing fields where the paint.brush
had taken possession he had seen furrow
after furrow turned over showing nothing
but a continuous sheet of the fibrous roots
of the plant.
The seeds of the plant are scattered by a
feathery down just as are those of the
thistle and dandelion. The weed is bad
enough on cultivated land, but, as the ex-
pertinent station bulletin states, its worst
work is done in fields designed to be per-
manently used for moving, or which have
recently been turned over from moving to
pasture.