Evening journal., 1914-06-11
lawns CLEARED OF
DANDELIONS BY salt
Pinch To Each Root After
Tops Have Been Cut Off
Quickly Kills Weed

The lest way to kill individual
dandelion plants is to cut off their
tops and put about a thimbleful of
salt on the surface of each exposed
root. This will kill most of them. AS
salt, if generally applied, ruins soil, it
should be used sparingly and applied
only TO the root tops Of the dande-
lions. The Department Of Agricul-
ture for some time has been testing
various poisons TO discover the most
efficient means of eradicating this
troublesome weed from lawns, but.
although others have been found
satisfactory, common salt is best for
general use, as there is no danger ac-
companying its application.
The Departments specialists say
that much effort is wasted in merely
cutting off the dandelion top without
applying some poison 10 the root thar
remains. The dandelion has tap
root that grows deep into the soil,
and cutting off the plant merely en-
courages the dandelion TO come up in
a thicker growth.
The time to eradicate dandelions Is
in the spring, before the plants have
had time to form seed The seed
spreads rapidly blown by the wind.
The blossoms should be close mown
before they have gone to seed ana
salt should then be applied to each
root man may be very diligent in
caring Tor his own lawn and yet have
seeds blown in from neighbOring
lawns. This is of such Importance to
those desiring fine lawns that it
might lie made a matter for COM
munity action.
If the lawn is very full of this weed
it is too tedious a process TO treat
each plant by the salt process In
I this case two possible methods of
eradication may be recommended.
The first method is to thicken the
stand of grass to tend to crowd out
the dandelon. The grass should be
nut into a vigorous condition by top
dressing with well-rotted manure or
/ fertilizer in the fall, and by reseeding
in thin places. The second method,
advised in extreme instances, is to
start all over again.
Pillow up the lawn first or spade IL
up If the area is small A generous
amount of well-rotted manure should
then De worked into the soil, but not
fresh manure, for that is full of weed
seeds ready to terminate. In ease
manure be not available commercial
fertilizers may be used. Many lawn
soils ara in need Of lime and it Is
often a wise plan to use il. especially
If white clover is to be sown.
After blowing the land should be
narrowed or raked frequently to re-
duce it to a good seed-bed condition
This will encourage the early germi-
nation Of weed seeds with the sub
seQuent determination of the seed
ings. Thorough cultivation at this
period will destroy the dandeliOl
plants, both those that come from
roots and from seeds. After follow
ing either of these two plans the lawI
should be maintained in good condi
ton by careful moving, rolling anl
watering
Spraying with iron sulphate solu
ton to kill dandelions without killing
the grass is not recommended by thu
Department, although il has beef
tried by some who consider 1t sue
cessful. Experiments do not seem I,
establish il as a practical method.
The dandelion is lot nativ,
American plant, having been intro
duced from Europe several centurie
ago 1t first was introduced in Lh
East and has spread westward wit
emigration. The weed is common al
over Europe and has gone into othe
lands with settlers from the Olde
country, always being found near tn
communities of man. The nam
! "dandelion" is said to come from Tia
French "dent de lion" which mean
tooth OF lion and refers to the tooth
shaped edges of the leaf Of the plant.
Another weed that Injuries tn
beauty of many lawns is the plan
tain, of which there are two varietie
the bUckhOrn, or rib grass, and tn
common, or broad leaf The sam
methods that apply to Graduating tn
dandellon apply to the plantain, eS
cept the method Of poisoning the il
dividual plant Instead of cutting o
the TOP and sprinkling the root wit
salt, as is done in the case of I'll
dandelion, the individual plantai
may best be removed by pulling u
by the root after a heavy rain, whe
the ground is wet The plantain doc
not offer a difficult problem, as IL
roots are pulled up readily, even fro
clay soil after a heavy rain.