Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1899-06-21
Weeds
By Prof. Atkinson.

Some one has made the observation
that it is difficult to bring up child
in the way it should go unless you are
going that way yourself" The same
doctrine applies to one who would ven
ture to give advice in the matter of
weed eradication. The farmer whose
farm is free from these vile pests will
seldom raise his pen to advocate his
methods or defend his practice. There
is ancient, medieval, and modern his
tory on the subject galore, and the enemy
we have still with us. What should be
done in the matter? If the common
foxtail is our friend, let us encourage
its growth, but if an enemy. let us rally
our forces and route it forever. It's
Sunday name is Chamoeraphia CLAUDIA
but the name pigeon grass" or ''foxtail'
conveys jast as clear an idea of its nature
to most of us. One characteristic of
this weed is that its absence usually
adds several bushels of corn per acre,
do with the comparatively low yield
through out the entire state. Those
who are growing sixty or seventy bush
els of corn per acre are not at the same
time producing one or two tons of weeds
per acre. The rainfall in Iowa is just
about sufficient to procure corn crop
alone and in few cases is there moisture
enough to spare three or four hundred
tons during the season for the produc-
ton of weeds, and yet we are told that
it requires that amount of water to pro
duce an acre of pigeon grass.
The effect of weed growth is not only
seen in the decreased yield of corn. \
clean, rich soil will produce a good cro,,
Of timothy if the seed is sown early in
the spring without a nurse crop, aat
yet, how often was this reso-ted to dur
ing the past season when the probaoili
ties pointed to an exceedingly light crop
Of hay? The explanation is that it co.'s
not be done on soil filled with weeds.
Much is being written at the p-esen
time about Bronze grass. A writer IN u
recent issue of an agricultural journa!
spoke of it as the coming grass for the
middle and western states. This gras-
is adapted to growing without nurse
crop if the soil is free from weeds. Its
growth is much slower during the early
part of the season than that of weeds
and in this way stooling is interfered
with, and in some cases the crop will be
;mothered out entirely. While the pres
emit crop is growing is the time to pre-
pare the soil for the growth of these new
crops. The crop of corn will repay fol-
the labor spent, if cultivated once after
it is too far advanced for the use of the
regular corn pillow. 1t could be done
with shallow one horse cultivator with
out injury to the crop, and it would
even pay to go through the crop with a
hand hoe for the purpose of removing
the weeds in the immediate vicinity OF
the corn plants, as these are usually suf
hcient to reseed the entire surface. The
result of carrying such practice to sue
cessful issue, would:
/. Increase the yield Of corn from II
TO IS per cent.
2. Prepare the soil for future seeding
down.
q. Improve the appearance Of the
fields.
4. Increase a mans respect for him
selt for having conquered the enemy.
8. Attract the favorable attention o
others.
q Be an example for others to follow