Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-10-10
WILL QUACK- GRASS SEED GROW?
How Many of Our Readers Can Ans
wer This Question Definitely?

Most any of our farmers know
many of them to their cost, that
quack-grass will grow and does grow
in places so widely scattered that it
seems incredible that they spread on
ly by root, if this is true. Probably
none of our readers have been inter
ested enough in growing quack-grass
| to plant any of the seed and observe
whether they will grow or not, and
no doubt most of those who have had
| this eXasperating plant to contend
with have gone to considerable pains
to keep the grass from going to seed
with the idea of preventing further
spread
| However, there are those who claim
to know positively that there is moth
ing to fear from the seed, that they
will not grow. We have been told
| of man in the southern part of
| this state who offered 500 in the
presence of a number of other men
| to any of them who could demon
strate that quack-grass seed would
grow. Some of them tried the exper-
iment, using every care to insure
success that they knew of, but not a
seed germinated
Co. Supt. o. E. Rice became inter-
ested in this matter and wrote to
| the officials of the Agricultural Exper-
iment Station at Madison to learn
What information they could give on
what would at first glance seem a
very simple subject 1t seems that
| they, too, were unable to answer the
question, as their letter, hereto ap-
pended, shows, but are now conduct
| ing tests to settle the matter. 1t will
be valuable to any farmer to know
the results of these tests and the
News-Budget will endeavor to pub
| lish the facts when ascertained.
The letter above referred to, which
was written by A. L. Stone, seed in
spector, is as follows:
Mr.. O. E. Rice, Ladysmith, Wis.
Dear Sir: Your letter of the 25th
ulto to Mr.. John j. Garland has
been referred to me. | am greatly in
terested in your request and the
question it brings up. know positive
ly that quack-grass seed will mature
and have we'll formed embryos in
Wisconsin. Peculiarly enough, | know
| of no other tests which have been
made to find out whether these seeds
would grow.
Immediately upon receiving your
letter from Mr. Garland We start
| ed termination test of quack-grass
| seeds in accordance with the usual
method in our laboratory Owing to
! the fact that some of the grass seeds
require a long period of time for
the completion of a termination test,
there is no way possible to tell
whether these seeds will grow. We
now have samples of the seeds sown
in soil as we'll as in the germinators
and hope to get some results.
| 1t is well established fact that
many seeds will not germinate in
the autumn or early winter of the
same year in which they were pro-
duced. The seeds which | am having
tested are some which grew in this
vicinity this summer and it is not
only possible but probable that these
seeds may not germinate this fall,
but would give a good termination
test next spring.
Your question opens up a very
interesting field for study. Certain
ly if quack- grass seeds will not grow
it is absolutely foolish from the stand
point of eradication to simply cut
the grass. We shall certainly keep
at this problem until we have deter
mined definitely whether we need to
worry about the production of seed
by the quackgrass plant. Owing to
the fact that some seeds will not
germinate the same year they were
produced and also that in many cases
it requires from eight to twenty-eight
days to secure good termination
test of grass seed, it is possible that
the experiment you mentioned was
| m tod