The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-01-21

I
cause of the great fertility of the new
lands. Often the greatest success is
upon sand bed, but 1t is because of
the absence of disease and weed pests.
or because. in those western commune
ties the fruit growers have banded to-
gether for the prevention OF the oc-
currence of the diseases which have
wrought such q havoc in the east. The
new lands of North Dakota and the
northwest produced great crops of
wheat, fax, oats and other cereals when
1 first broken, not so much because of
their virgin fertility as because of the
absence of all or p pests. Not recog-
nizing this, the farmers allowed to
come in with the seed the seeds of
every conceivable sort Of weed which
could compete with the crop and every
conceivable sort of fungus which could
make disease upon the crop. The land
has not only became weedy but it is
rapidly becoming flax sick, wheat
sick, and capable of producing potato
rot, potato scab. corn smut, etc.
Farmers are now often surprised when
they pillow up section of what appears
to be virgin prairie that they are no
longer able to raise the fine crops once
so easily raised upon the same sort
Of land in the immediate neighborhood
They notice. that on this land masses
Of all sorts of weeds now grow when
formerly none appeared l wish to add
to this the fact that on that same sort
of land the crops are also attacked
by various disease producing plants
and parasites which were not in the
original prairie lands of North Dakota,
but are now scattered by the wind, dust
borne and water borne. to many UNI
plowed areas, and what is worse, it
may actually be said that seed is often
degenerated because many of the dis
eases which persist in the land are also
seed borne this internally attacked
seeds, etc. 1t is therefore not to be
expected that a section of virgin sod
surrounded by miles of diseased wheat
land and wheat fields should be ex-
pected to yield wheat as 1t may have
done once when the disease pests and
the weed pests peculiar to wheat had
not as yet been brought into the
county in quantity So also with po-
tatoes, flax, or any other farm crop
Sanitary methods of cropping are as
essential to crop production as to ami
NAL production or as to the health of
a people. Two plants cannot give full
fruition if parasitized either on vegeta-
tion on the roots or on the seed.
Farm success in the future will need
to consider such matters of crop san
itation as factors of equally as great
Importance as any general methods of
cropping such as soil fertilization, soil
culture, soil drainage. Irrigation and
crop rotation. Indeed, all these, i'm
|cluding seed preparation and selection
should be studied and worked in the
light of studies upon habits and affects
of special crop pests. A weed is a
plant out of place affecting the crop
eases are due to the direct action of
in the tissues of e crop plant. They
are thus often tie most destructive Of
the type of weeds with which the
farmer has to deal
If then the weeds and disease pests
are not to be tolerated in the crop +
the near future, definite methods of
eradication, reductio. or control must
be well understood and persistently
followed A definite system of farm
crop sanitation must be introduced.
A Word About Seed and Weed Laws.
The legislature of North Dakota, rec
ognizing the fact that individual farm
ers. merchants and reedsmen were
10 the public with reference to these
matters Of farm sanitation, at the last
session passed chree laws, each dealing
with these matters: A pure seed law,
senate bill 1l9; Iioxious weed law,
senate bill 1913; and senate bill 200,
amending the laws Of 1907 so as 10
authorize township supervisors and
city councils to purchase and use var
ious chemicals and machinery for des-
troying noxious weeds along roadsides.
Each of these laws is carefully worded
and If properly enforced, supported and
supplemented by the public must as
certain as the sun rises prove great
benefit TO agriculture and to the public
welfare. The seed law established o