Newport weekly independent., 1901-08-30
FARMER ANDPLANTER.
WEEDS AND THEIR SEEDS.
Factor in Farm Work that Com sumes an Enormous Amount
 of Time.

If we could know now much Ol our time each year is spent in fighting weeds, the record would astoniSh us. Weeds in the corn, weeds in the pota- toes, weeds in the grain and weeds ln the grass, weeds everywhere. Where they all come from and just why they thrive, as they do, furnish food for thought.
 1 have lately been having costly experience with a weed which we l call here in the east the wlreweed. | l think it is species of the golden | rod The leaves and blossoms bear remarkable resemblance to that plant. l am unable to give the origin of the plant on my farm, but it came last year in wonderful areas. Those who know anything about its tenacity, need not be told what roots it has, running, far out in every direction and sending out it's myriad of tibrous rootlets here and there until it runs all other vegetation out. Last fall l plowed piece which was thickly l grown up to this weed and thought perhaps by blowing again in the spring I might be able to conquer it; but when spring came and l turned the land over again there was the wireweed as fresh as ever after the first warm rain. Then the question arose what to do next, and 1 conclud- ed that nothing would avail like thor ough cultivation. planted my piece to potatoes, as 1 had intended, and sat down to await results. l had not long to wait, for some time before | the potatoes were out of the ground the wireweed had begun to send up it's head all over the field. l put in spike tooth harrow and did what l could in that way to subdue the weed, but it speedily presented itself as | fresh as before. As soon as l could sec the rows I started the cultivator and had the satisfaction of knowing that I had rooted out some of the stalks. This gave me courage and l kept at it. Four times I went over the piece, part of the time one way l and part the other. l was beginning to get the stuff cornered. Still many stalks remained in the potato hills and after milling them up l went through them with a hoe and every spear of wirewood 1 could find was carefully pulled by hand. To-day the piece is as clean as can be imag- ined, but oh! the hours of backache! | Where do they come from? Well l think we buy vast deal of foul stuff in our grass seed, for, be as careful as we may, some will get into the grass seed. l have always taken pains to buy the very best and cleanest seed I could find, and yet, no doubt I have been deceived. Again, one careless farmer may seed to foul weeds a whole township, for the weed seeds fly pn the wings of the wind far and near. If allowed to ripen these seeds are so light that they float across the snow for miles; thus wild carrot and similar plants, migrate. A few mo- ments with a scythe just before the plants begin to ripen would save un- told trouble to those who really try to keep their farms free from weeds.
 Many of our weeds come from the seedsmen, who send them out in lit l tle PackaSes TOT the HoWer SaTden. Of this class may be named the so called paintbrush. There ought to be a stringent law against spreading this seed in such a way. It is a most pes tiferous weed running everything else out wherever it gets a foothold. It spreads from the root and from the seed, which like that of wild car rot, is as light as a feather and is carried by the wind for miles and miles. In some parts of the east this plant is getting dangerous foothold. -E. L. Vincent, in Agricultural Epi- tomist.