Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-07-31
DAILY HINTS ON
FARM TOPICS
BY K. A. Kirkpatrick
UNLAWFUL WEEDS.

UNLAWFUL WEEDS.
In travelling about the county our.
ing the last few days, ! have taKei
occasion to note that . great man!
farmers are violating tho state weee
law. This probably occurs because
the party ia not Interested IN the
important question of weed control.
The weeds recognised by the law
n noxious are as follows. QuacA
grass. Canada Thistle, Cocklebur.
wild Mustard, Curled Dock. Smooth
Dock. Buckhorn. Wild Parsnips
Horse Nettls, Vslvet4weed, Burdock
The Thirty-fhtrd General Assem-.
,h,v passed q law compelling the re.
moyal Of certain weeds from the pub
lie highway, and from lands ada
cent thereto, etc., as follows.
section /. Land owners or Ten.
ants to Destroy Weeds.-When.' "
shall be the duty Of every person
Arm or corporation owning, occupy.
ing or controlling lands, town ano
city lots. land used IS right OF way,
depot grounds or for other purposes
IN cut burn or otherwise entirely
destroy all weeds OF all kinds men
toned in section two hereof at sucn
times each year and In such manner
as shall prevent the said weeds from
blooming or coming to maturity.
Procedure and Penalty.
The law provides q method Of pro-
cedure and q penalty IN case 0! ne
eject to remove noxious weeds from
or adjacent to the highways. 40.
cordinx to this law 1t is the duty o.
the trustees or other officers respon.
sible for the care of public highways
In each township or county IN the
state to cause the destruction OF all
hoxious weeds mentioned In tho
above paragraph The essential I'M
function is that they may be not al
lowed to produce seeds or to propa.
gate In any other manner. The OF
ficers above mentioned may call out
labor or employ labor for this pur'
pose in the same manner a. Tor re-
pairing highways. The penalty pro-
vides that In case Of failure to re-
move these noxious weeds IN such .
way as to prevent them maturing
ahy seeds or otherwise propagahng
themselves, the work may be done
through order OF the township trus-
tees of other officers and the cost OF
the work shall be recovered from the
owner of the land adjoining in the
form OF . special tax to be certified
by the township clerk In the same
manner as road tax which Is not
paid.
Suggestion For Controlling Weeds,
During the slack times on the farm
tho noxious weeds may be gotten
rid of In fence rows and along the
highway. This work makes splen-
did wet weather Job. 1t Is not
enough to- confine the attempts at
controlling weeds to the species that
have been mentioned above. There
are many varieties which, while not
extremely dangerous, should be made
the objects of continual warfare.
There are three general classes OF
weeds when one attempts to eradi-
cate them. Annual weds are repre-
sented by fox tail. In this class
the seeds terminate In the spring.
the plants blossom, produce seeds.
and then die. Their roots are fl
brous and usually easily killed BY
exposure to the sun. by any ordinary
method of cultivation. In 4 few cas-
es his class will produce roots from
the joints as they lie on the ground.
A good example Of this Is the crab
gress.
Biennial weeds are those which
terminate their seeds one season,
produce a mass of leaves, pass
through the winter. and the next sea-
son sends up stem which bears no.
wers and seeds and then dies. Such
weeds should be cut OF several inch
es below the surface Of the ground
after the seed stalk has formed, but
before the plant Is In blossom. II
should be kept In mind, that cutting
them OF the first season Will do no
good. The root will simply sprout
new top and the plant will contin-
ue to grow. This class II represent
ed by such plants IS tho burdock and
the Wild parsnip.
The perennial weeds are those
which continue to grow and produce
seeds year after year. This class
10 represented by such plants a. Ca.
ada thistle. quaok grass, dock, sheep
sorrel, and Wild morning glories.
General Rules 10 bo Observed In
Fighting Weeds.
1. Prevent The formation OF
seeds. This applies to all kinds Of
weeds with special emphasis in thu
ANIMALS a. butter print, or the 30.
gYass-like weeds such - fox tail. the
seeds do not retain their vitality We.
~ long. The field II readily rid Of
them by seeding down to meadow fo1
q number Of years. However, such
annuals,as butter print, or the CO
called velvet weed have seeds which
retain their vitality for long per
aod Of years. This II especially true
when these seeds are buried deey
enough In the ground 80 that wealth
ering does not have chance to ac'
upon them. It Is known fact tina
the velvet weed has seed vitality
under such conditions covering *
years Or more.