Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-04-23
FACTS ABOUT JOHNSON GRASS.
Bureau of Plant Industry Tells of Ex-
perinents.


suits Of the experiments in the exter-
mination of Johnson grass on the farm
owned by ]. B. Gray Of Columbus,
Texas In order to have the demon
stration cope with absolutely the worst
Of conditions that the trials II sue
cessful would deserve the greatest
amount Of attention and credit as well
as be of the greatest value, the land
selected for the work was an abandon
ed area near the centre Of a large
field where the pest was in absolute
control, and 1t was argued that II the
grass could be eradicated from this
apparently bad spot little difficulty
would be experienced in killing 1t on
in spots where 1t had not gained such
foothold.
The method which gave the best re-
suits was that Of ploughing the land
in the fall and then by some imple-
ments, as a grass hoe, to remove the
root stocks from the soil. The land
was treated twice in this manner and
more than a ton of root stock removed
from each acre.
Land treated in this manner need
have, in a large number Of cases, no
further attention along this line, for
the experiments showed that little II
any Of the grass came back, and that
after three years the fields were COM
paratively free from the evil.
Later experiments by ]. s. Gates
demonstrated that the root pulling
feature of the work was not necessary
as the results where the roots were
not pulled were as satisfactory as
where the pulling was done.
The Root Stocks.
Those who are acquainted with the
pest and mostly affected by 1t are
obliged to know the plant. IL they
would successfully combat 1t, as 1t has
been demonstrated by these exper-
iments that the root stock feature OF
the plant is it's invulnerable point.
These root stocks penetrate the
earth to as great depth as four feet
| sometimes, but as a rule they are
to be found within thirty inches Of
the surface, and In cases where the
root Is not allowed to develop by
grazing or moving 1t will be found to
be just under the surface Of the
ground.
The main point is to induce the
fshallow root stock habit and then In
breaking to keep the root stocks near
the surface where they can be reached
by the summers heat or the winters
frost.
| An experiment was conducted also
on the farm of. J. ]. Harrison, near
| Columbus, which illustrates clearly the
greater ease for killing off the john
son grass where the plant has not had
the chance to develop deep root stocks.
In this case fence was run across
portion Of the land and a section
turned into a meadow where hay was
mown for three years, and along to-
wards the latter part OF the third sea-
son the land was pastured. On the
other side Of the fence cotton was
grown for two years and corn for the
third year. and at the expiration OF
three years the fence was removed and
the whole place turned into cotton
field. The whole place was thickly set
In Johnson grass, and on the part
which had been cultivated to corn the
root stocks had penetrated very deeply,
and on the part where the meadow
had been the roots were found to be
near to the top.
Careless hoe work should not be al
lowed in fighting johnson grass, for
this Is one Of the reasons why the pest
has made such headway, and unless
the root itself Is dragged from the
earth 1t will do no good to merely cut
away the top.
| No patented chemical or other prep
aration for destroying Johnson grass
which has been examined has been
found to be practical or economical In
any way, and all chemicals Of this
kind found on sale in Texas have been
tested.
Rotation Of Grain and Grass.
A simple rotation Of winter grain
and Johnson grass has advocates In
many sections. The sod Is broken In
the late summer and small grain Is
sowed in the early fall. After the grain
is harvested the following spring two
and sometimes three crops Of Johnson
grass can be secured in favorable sea-
sons, until the late summer again
comes when the land is again broken
for the grain crop.
Oats are sown in October and har-
vested about June and after the har-
vest three cuttings Of grass can be
made, averaging about one ton to 20
acres as was done by ]. w. Storey OF
Ennis, Texas, who tried the rotation
plan and found 1t successful. He re-
ports that his oat crop never falls be-
low 40 bushels per acre, and some
times reaches Is bushels, but In all
cases he estimates that the loss Of one
fourth Of the full capacity Of the soil
is due to the presence Of the grass.
| Where hay has market value and
can be harvested with safety 1t may
prove profitable to use Johnson grass
on infested land in rotation with a cul-
tivated crop, but before introducing 1t
as rotation crop one should be sure
that he Is absolute master Of the grass
and the means Of being rid Of it If de-
sired.
May Be Followed With Corn and Cow
peas.
In sections where the grass infests
practically all Of the land there Is no
question that the grass can be utilized
in rotation to excellent advantage
somewhat after the manner OF using
timothy in the north. The standard
rotation adapted to nearly all parts OF
the cotton belt is cotton followed by
corn and cowpeas, this by winter
grain, after which a crop Of cowpeas
for hay Is grown. thus giving three
rotation with four harvested crops.
Johnson grass can be inserted In this
rotation after the cowpeas crop, and