Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-09-17
Many Iowa Farmers Report In
jury From Vine Known as
Field Dodder
HOW TO ExTERMINATE PLANT
Prof. PammeI, of Iowa State College
Botany Department, Suggests Rem
edy-Most Important Thing Is to
Obtain Perfectly Clean Glover Seed
For Planting.
pecial to Times Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Ames, Sept. 17.-Professor L. H.
Pammel, Of the botany department at
the Iowa State College, has been re-
ceiving letters from many farmers over
the state of Iowa complaining of dam
ages done to clover by vine known as
field dodder. He has received several
specimens from farmers inquiring
what to do to eXterminate the pest. Its
ravages as described by one farmer liv-
ing near Madrid, Iowa, are as follows:
"There is some kind Of vine that is
making its appearance in my clover
field. have never seen anything like it
before. 1 seeded a piece Of ground to
clover last spring with barley as a
nurse crop. l find this vine where the
clover is the heaviest. 1t seems to start
in spots and spreads five feet or more
and dies. 1t kills everything, grass and
weeds, and when dead it looks like a
web" For the benefit Of those so
troubled with the weed Professor Pam
mel makes the following statement:
This is one of the most dangerous
weeds which we have recently received
from correspondents in this state.
Dodder is parasite and belongs to
the morning glory family, to which the
common wild morning glory, sweet po-
tato and plants of that character also
belong.
"The dodders are leafless excepting
the small scales on the stems tWinlng
around the plants upon which they live.
They pierce the plant with small, short
rootlets, which are called suckers or
haustoria. The seeds are small, yet
there is stored sufficient nourishment
in them to give the embryo start.
The seed terminates in the soil and
grows sufficiently in length to allow
it to come in contact with the plant
upon which it lives, when 1t immed-
lately sends in it's suckers, and thus
becomes established upon the plant.
determination.
"The first and most important point
is to obtain seed that is free from dod-
der seed. 1t is best, therefore, to OBJ
tain the seed grown in the Mississippi
valley and the east. European seed
should not under any consideration be
purchased. There is likelihood OF some
danger from the east, some danger from
the south and especially from the west.
Glover seed grown in the southern part
of Iowa is hardly suited for our condi-
tions, and it is not likely that the Iowa
farmer will purchase much of this seed.
Farmers cannot be too emphatlcaliy
cautioned against sowing dodder-ln-
tested seed. The ultimate loss will
greatly exceed the cost of cleaning the
clover seed. The dodder, when once
may be exterminated, first,
by the herbicidal treatment. For this
a solution of copper sulphate,
a ten per cent solution applied literally,
will be found efficacious. In addition,
the European investigators recommend
a strong solution of salt. sulphide OF
lime. carbolic acid and sulphide of iron.
These solutions will destroy the dodder
when found in the vegetatfve condf-
ton but should seed occur, then it will
be necessary to take the additional pre-
caution to cut the dodder after the APP
plication of the herbicide and burn it.
1t should be remembered that these So
lutions will not be effective unless they
come in direct contact with the plant.