The Ordway new era., 1913-11-21
WEEDS ON DRY FARMS
Abundance Of Noxious Intruders
Throughout West.
Harmful Plants Are Usually More
Hardy Than Cultivated Ones and
More Successful In Struggle
for Water and Food. D..

When q dry farm is first taken UP
Or purchased every effort Is made to
get 1t into a good state of cultivation
Just as soon as possible. All the
farmers energies are used in getting
1t cleared and broken and started to
raising crops. Little thought is given
to the permanent welfare of the field
in the rush to start the land produc.
ing. This often leads to slipshod
methods Of farming which are likely
to be continued later even after the
breaking stage is over.
One of the disastrous results OF
these methods is the growth Of weeds.
the presence of which in any large
quantity makes dry.farming sure to
fail. In passing over the great dry.
farming areas OF the entire west one
cannot help but be impressed by the
abundance of these noxious intruders.
They are found everywhere. True,
there are farms here and there that
are free from weeds, but the great
majority of the fields are literally in.
tested around the borders and on the
uncropped pieces. as well as in the
crops themselves.
The weedy borders furnish per
ennial source Of seed to keep the en-.
tire farm foul. It is very much easier
to get rid of the few weeds next to
the fence before they go to seed than
to have to combat during the next SEA-
son the millions of young plants re-
sulting from these prolific mothers.
The old saying that stitch in time
saves nine might be paraphrased to
read "A weed in time saves thou
sand"
1t is absolutely useless to pretend
to summer fallow II a crop OF weeds
is allowed to grow. The object Of
cropping only during alternate Year,
is to allow the moisture Of two sea.
sons to be used in producing a single
crop. II weeds grow during the year
when there is no crop the moisture ia
used up Just as completely as If a
crop of wheat were raised. So. even
II these weeds are not allowed to go
to seed. they do harm by robbing the
soil Of its much needed moisture.
Even more serious than the above
IL the growth of weeds In the crop IT.
self. They are usually more hardy
than the cultivated plants. and are
more successful in the competition for
water and plant food. The yield is
not only reduced but the quality of
the crop is impaired. since the weeds
interfere with harvesting and their
seeds lower the market value Of grain.
There are number of weeds that
are especially troublesome on the dry
farm. and these should be carefully
guarded against In order not to allow
them to get a start. Among the worst
Of these are the Russian thistle and
the tumbling mustard. Both Of these
produce thousands of seeds to each
plant and these seeds may be scat
tered over a large area, due to the
fact that when the plants are ripe
they go tumbling over the fields with
the wind, scattering their seeds all
along the way. A yellow row OF bios
somlng mustard half mile long was
once seen stretching across a field Of
grain, marking the path OF a single
plant on its journey of seed disper-
sion. The next year the field was q
solid mustard patch.
In regions infested by Russian
thistles 1t only takes a year or two
Of neglect for them to get complete
control.
There Is no single thing to do to
get rid Of all weeds. Each kind has
its own weak point where 1t can be
best attacked. The general rule. how
ever, is to kill all weeds when they
are young: better. just after they
have germinated.