The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1916-10-20
BANDIT CROP OF THE FARM
By PROF. P. G. HOLDEN,

Which Wins on Your Fal
BANDIT CROP OF THE FARM
Weeds mean waste-a waste of time, {
money, labor and land. Weeds rob J
our crops of light, food and moisture; |
occupy land where profitable crops {
should be grown !, cheaper our farms I;
injure live stock; harbor insects and
fungus diseases. Weeds are the bandit
crop of the farm. They knock the cour-
age out of a mans heart, and drive
many of the less determined husband
men to the cities in search OF jobs.
The United States department of
agriculture estimates the loss to the
American farmer from damage to crops
by weeds, to be more than $30000OgOOo
every year. This Is actual money loss,
due to short crops. 1t does not include
the losses from deprecated property.
If we are to match our wits against the |
weed, we must have our heads in the |
game. Weeds are with US to stay. |
| They are right en- the job all the time. |
The special business of the weed Is to
secure nourishment for itself, to per-
petuate its species.
The weed which is best able to cope
with difficulties is the weed which sur
| wives.
Weeds are abundant seeders. A sim
4 gle plant of shepherds purse may pro-
duce as many as $4,000 seeds; squirrel
tail produces 300 to 1000; plantin may
bear 5000 seeds per plant; foxtail
from 1000 to 5000 seeds; stinkweed,
10000 seeds; the Russian thistle from
100000 to 100000 seeds, and one mus
tard plant, one and one-half million
seeds.
Soil Robbers.
Compare these prolific soil robbers
with our food-producing plants.
Through centuries of time weeds have
become adapted to certain soils and
climate conditions In other words their
species are fixed. They are hardy vet
Grams able to withstand the extremes
of heat and cold, or drouth and Excess
! sive moisture without injury.
Our worst weeds are not the species
: which were found in this country when
the first settlers came. They had not
t learned to adapt themselves to all con-
g ditions. Few of them are here now.
: When the forests were cleared the
q native weeds being unaccustomed to
the hot sun, persisted. When the
Y marshes were drained. the pioneer
e weeds disappeared with the water.
s When the prairies were cultivated the
S prairie weeds fled. They We're not bred
/ to endure the tramp of feet, and when
n civilization came bringing with it the
n multitudes of men they soon died out.
d Some of the Bad Weeds
2, But there are other weeds-milk
e weed, smartweed, Spanish needle, mus
t tard peppermint, tansy, poison hem
l. lock, jimson, morning-glory, ragweed
d velvet leaf, pursiane, quack grass, wild
' garlick, Canada thistle, ox-eye daisy
e bindweed, orange hawkwee6, johnson
e grass, sorrel wild oats and fifty Others
ID that are common wherever man is.
Most of these have been brought t.
us from Europe. More than 800 specie
c of weeds have been introduced int
New England since the first cutting o
the forests.
:. Weeds are classified as to length o
life as:
Annals, those that spring up, grow
produce seed ard die the same yea
at Examples: Foxtail, ragweed an
IN smartweed.
). Biennials, those which spring up an
ms produce a leaf growth one year, liv
Dy through the winter, and the next sprin
send up a stem shoot which flower
Is and seeds, usually early, then the plar
X dies. Examples: Mullen, bull thistl
AZ wild carrot, black-eyed Susan.
re Perennials, those whose roots lily
lie. from year to year. Familiar example
Ter Of these are quack grass, mllkwee'
* horse-nettie and the dandelion.
N, How Weed Seeds Are Spread.
al Weeds seeds are spread chiefly /
ia man sowing impure seed; by seattle
ing weed seeds in feeding hay, stray
ad screenings and in manure; by wind
nd water and snow: by animals and bird'
np. by farm machines and railroads;
~ weeds allowed to flourish in was
an places.
Every weed that is allowed to m
his ture produces hundreds of thousand
DR.. and even millions Of seeds. Having pr
duced a large quantity Of seed, Il
'na next step is to distribute it. And
this task the weed has many helper
First: A large part of the weed SCI
18th is distributed by the sower who SOY
impure seed. Imported grains and le
at grade grass seed contain large pr
portion of weed seeds.
Much of the seed which cannot Leg
ly be sold in Canada and in Europe
ort countries is sent into this country
: a states which do not have pure Sc
in law, so there is large possibi TT
imported seed being impure.