Graham guardian., 1912-05-10


or underground seed always start
at the crown, just at or little be
low the surface. where the roots
and the tops of the grass join.
They are supported by the parent
plant for the first few inches of
growth. until they dip into the
earth and send out fibrous roots of
their own Then they are inde-
Ipandent Of the parent stalk. 1t is
always the root stock that form, say
| in 1911, that send up the grass tops
in 1912. The old root stock that
formed during the year 1910 and
sent up tops in 1911 have no more
power to send up tops in 1912 than
Twill cookie burr root that grew in
1911 have vitality to grow another
top in 1912.
| This being the case we see that
lall that is necessary is to prevent
these root stock seed or any of the
grain seed from forming and the
grass is destroyed. | have stated
where they form-7shallow, close to
the surface so the next step is
twhen do they form? TheAcan we
intelligentIy fight the grass after
knowing all its habits? These root
stalks always form certain stage
of growth and that is just as the
grass punches to bloom or to send
/ out seed head. Hence the two
seeds above and below ground be.
gin to form simultaneously. Know
ing these facts. all the intelligent
farmer has to do is to watch the
growth of this grass and shave it
off with wedding hoe or sweep
behind horse at this critical stage
when no seed will form, and he will
destroy it in single year. 1t takes
light but constant effort and not the
old back breaking, ditch digging
process with a grubbing hoe, taught
us by our blind leaders in authority
In olden times when the blind led
the bind the good book tells US
that both shared the same fate and
fell in the ditch together. But
in these modern days the bind lead
er sits back in the shade of an of.
flee and makes the blind farmer dig
the ditch by himself and by the
sweat of his own face Not only
was the farmer led to do hard, un-
necessary work, but work greatly
detrimental when he dug up and
carried out the root stocks that rot
every year and enrich the soil.
A RENovAToR OF SOIL
This brings me to my second
point THAT Johnson grass is great
fertilizer and renovator of depleted
soils. When this fact is established
beyond doubt, then the up.to-date
farmer will plant Johnson grass on
one side and cotton on the other of
his turning row. Then when his
cotton land begins to show deterior-
alton, he will sway sides with these
two products and SOW johnson grass
on his worn out cotton land and
plant cotton on his enriched John
son grass land, make bale to the
acre on it and kill out the Johnson
grass with the same labor it takes
to make the cotton. Any worn land
can be restored to it's virgin fertility
by running it in johnson grass. gen.
orally from three to five years with
a solid mass of grass on it. | con-
slider it a better balanced fertilizer
than legumes. The latter, such as
peas, clover, etc., give an excess of
nitrogen, making plants ran too
much to weed, unless counteracted
by the minerals to make the pants
set fruit. johnson glass yields
great quantities of humus--decaved
vegetable matter from the great
mass of these large, fleshy root
stocks that decay annually. 1t is
equivalent to many tons of barn
yard manure distributed over the |
fed and much deeper and better
distributed than can be done by
man. johnson grass does more
it prepares the minerals already in
the soil for available plant food by
mechanical action. When these
large. fieshy root stocks penetrate
deep into the scil-much deeper
than man ever plows and then de-
cay, they open up the soil and the
air enters and comes into contact
with the potash and phosphorus
that exists in the soil and by aera.
ting make them available plant food.
Most every farmer has seen practical
illustrations of how this is done,
when soil is brought from the depths
of well or ditch and thrown upon
the surface. For year or so moth
ing will grow on it. But after the
atmosphere comes into contact with
it and dissolves or aerates it, vegeta-
tion then will grow on it.
If all the above statements be
true and | challenge anv practical