The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1914-05-08
THE DANDELION AGAIN.

THE DANDELION AGAIN.
In the December, 1910, issue Of
Western Chemist and Metallurgist, in
an article on 1.-THE Dandelion," John c
Bailar of Golden, Colorado, makes
some startling statements as to the
harm done by the present system in
vogue for the eradication of dandelions
and presents clearly the reason why
a directly opposite method should be
followed. If the conclusions of the
writer are justified by his experience,
they would go to show that what we
have been doing here in Moscow has
been exactly what makes most for
the spread of the dandelion and the
destruction of blue grass. We can not
reproduce the whole of the article, but
we reprint those paragraphs which
state most concisely the system found
successful in Colorado:
Five years ago the writer start
ed a new lawn and for the first
two years had as many dandelions
as any one in that neighborhood.
The following system of cultiva-
ton was then adopted:
First. The lawn mower was
set as high as possible so that
the grass was cut two inches or
more above the ground. This in
terfered with the spreading habit
of the dandelion.
Second. The clippings were
not removed at every cutting but
allowed to remain on the ground.
This kept new dandelions from
gaining a foothold and strength
ened the grass.
Third. No fertilizer was used,
as with this method of cultivation
none was needed for the grass,
while the dandelions found the
struggle for existence still harder.
A little fertilizer may be neces-
sary for some soils but the mini
mum should always be used.
Fourth. When a dandelion did
appear it was not dug out. Dig
ging out plants, be it ever so care
fully done, Injuries the turf and
makes an opening for dandelion
seeds which may drift that way
Instead of digging the dandelion
out a pointed stick was thrust
down into the heart of the plant,
making a hole about four inches
deep and a quarter of an inch in
diameter. Into this hole was
poured about a teaspoonful of
dilute nitric acid made by mixing
one part of concentrated acid with
four parts of water. This never
failed to kill the dandelion and,
as soon as the acid was neutraliz-
ed by the soil, it became a fertil-
izer, strengthening the grass in
that spot, thereby effectually pre-
venting any seed from growing.
The cost of this treatment is about
one cent per hundred dandelions.
During the past summer it was
found necessary to kill perhaps
two dozen dandelions on this lawn
which is forty by sixty feet, al
though on the windward side of it
is a plot of ground where dande-
lions have flourished and gone to
" ! 4
abundant at the border of the
lawn, but few were hardy enough {
to cross the dead line. /
"Now is the time to NOT pre- I
pare your lawn for next summer. I
That money with which you had /
intended to buy fertilizer will be a
better spent if you use it in the G
purchase of bulbs" a
Just at the present time there are :.
Moscow a number of young lawns y
/ which so simple an experiment as
here suggested would well repay
e owner. To refrain from frequent
i'd close cutting of the lawn will not
ork a hardship on most men who
tie to push the mower about, any
ay. To abstain this fall from pur-
asing fertilizer and this spring
,m cutting out the weeds would al
be easy and economical of money
d energy. We should very much <
q to see this experiment tried and
no that some one who has been
thered with the dandelion Will feel le
e carrying out the plan and re- le
ring the results later. Close
,pped lawns are not beautiful when ~
,ered with myriad of yellow BIOS