The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-10-02
.STUMPS, BRUSH
WEEDS AND GRASS
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE B EAU OF
PLANT INDUSTRY.

We pay larger tax every year Ior
stumpa, brush, weeds and grass than
Is required to support our municipa',
coun,y, state and federal govern
meniS, to endOw all the colleges and
educate all the youth OF the land, ami
We get no return \ stump nor ONLY
occupies valuable space but it pre-
vents the use OF improved implements
Tor Deter and more rapid tiiiage Jf
the soil. The cost of farm Ianor is Oh
the increase with the certainty tnaI
this will continue till the equation OF
wages on the farms and in the town
or city Is more equal. The remedy for
higher priced labor on the farm is the
use of more and betters teams and
implements. If the day wage on the
arms Of the South advances from SO
to $3.50 then each farm hand must
plOW, plant, and cultivate twice as
Aany acres in day as he did before
and this is an early problem. But the
S,umps must go, and the farmer who
does not try to get rid OF them will
soon be a back number. The stump
farmer pays about $500 an acre every
year for the privilege Of having stumps
in his fields. In addition. there are
generally a few feet of untitled soil
around every field stump which prod
uce foul weeds aud grasses to seed
the land.
What has been charged against
stumps applies with sun more force to
trees, shrubs ana brush patches in the
/ field; dis, burn, destroy; they are nat
ural enemies OF the farmer. SIaigh-
ten out the sides of the field, square
/ up the corners and avoid the short
/ rows as much as possible; they in
crease the work OF ullage.
Farmers have become so aCcustom-
ed to fighting weeds and grass in the
/ cultivated fields that they regard it as
a matter of necessity. They think tne
land is full of foul seeds and OF
course they will germinate when it
rains.
When virgin soils are first placed
| in cultivation they are comparatively
! free from weeds and grass, and that
/ they become foul is due to faulty man
agement on the part of the farmers.
| 1t is not difficult to discover the real
cause. First careless cultivation,
! which allows weeds and grass to ma
ture seed in the cultivated fields. Sec
ond, little attention IS paid to the
! highways, the brush patches, the fence
corners and the pastures, and they are
almost universally breeding grounus
for foul weeds and grass. 1t has been
charged that the Southern farmer ls
careless. 1t may be true in some
things, but in one thing too many OF
them stand first among the farmers OF
the world-they never fail o raise a
crop of weed and grass seed large
enough to seed their own fields and
neighbors'.
The cost OF this universal weed and
grass seeding amounts annually to
more than five dollars for each acre
in corn, and ten dollars for each acre
in cotton In 1909 in the states of
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi North Carolina, Oklano
ma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
and Virginia, there were 1896, 900
acres in corn and 30,G93 900 acres In
cotton, which would show yearly
loss of over 5l1 millions Of dollars.
This loss can be greatly reduced by
intensive cultivation continued as late
in the season as possible and by NOW.
ing the roadsides, the fence corners,
the borders of the fields and the pas
lures In June and in August At frs
IT. seems like a waste OF labor, but its
beneficial effects soon become appar.
ent.
A persistent war on weeds ana
grass. stumps and brush, in the fields
is one of the great progressive move
men.s necessary to progress in agricul-
ture. S. \. KNAPP,
Special Agent in Charge.