Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-06-09
FIGHTING WEEDS.
Weeds Are the Greatest Enemies of the Northwest
(By J. G. Haney, .Agri Exten. Dept, International Harvester Co..

straw were piled over the quack
grass, 1t would smother it down to
such an exten: that very little Of 1t
would show up the next year. Manure
or any material that would get wet
and allow the quack grass to grow up
through 1t would not answer the
same purpose. He said that in the
fall, after the quack grass and other
plants had quit growing, this straw
should be burned off. and the ground
left perfectly bare during the winter,
and very few, If n quack grass
roots would be alive the coming
spring. 1t would of course be advisable
to put the straw over several feet on
either side Of the Quack grass patch
Is, so thai they would be certain to
be all covered Tar paper, or any otl-
err material that would exclude the
light from the quack grass, would kill
IT. This same would apply to the SOW
thistle or any other weeds. However,
tar paper would be much more ex-
pensive than the straw. and perhaps
not much more effective.
Deep Flowing Will XIII Weeds.
A well recognized method for kill
ing all weeds is to shallow pillow the
ground in the fall and leave these
ASSSS SHpooSN 90 u SS pOS6lUlc
during the winter. After they have
started in the spring, If there are any
that are still alive, pillow them under
as deeply as possible. Where the
ground Is badly infested, it may be
advisable to do what is known as
trench blowing" which has proved
effective in many states for overcom-
ing weeds. That is. there are two
blows used. one following the other.
The first n1nNV offor n 1na~ ,,,,o,,
has been opened, should be run shall
low, and throw the roots down in the
bottom of the deeper furrow, and the
second pillow should follow Immediate
ly behind the first pillow and turn a
still deeper slice or top of these roots,
and max a deep furrow in which
the roots from the next furrow should
be turned into. If this is done and the
ground worked down and planted i'm
mediately. the roots will be SO far be-
low the surface, and will be SO slow
in starting hat the other crop will
get so much Roadway that the SOW
thistle or quack a will have little
chance to crowd the crop to any ex-
tent. This method might not uccee
on thin soils. OIL soils thai will not
grow crops when plowed unusually
deep.
The Spaulding Deep Tiller, which is
a pillow arranged to cut a furrow from
~ to 16 inches deep, Is recommended
FOR accomplishing such purposes. and
is being tried with fairly good results
in some instances. However, this pillow
tends to mix the soil rather too much
and does not cover all the roots, as
we'll as 1t is possible to cover them by
using two ploWs.
expensive, but when it is considered
That II land is once thoroughly infest-
ed with these weeds 1t il practically
useless for farming purposes, it will
be realized that a person would be
justified in going to almost any ex-
pense In keeping them from spread
ing to any further extent.
Summer Fallow.
A favorite method Of cleaning land
is to summer fallow-or keep the
land black all summer. This is an ef-
fective method, blu expensive. For
quack or thistle, 1t may be advisable.
and II used, great care should be ex-
ercised to keep the land black-not
allow any growth whatever. Plowing
two or three times, or using the vari-
Gus types of weeders and cultivators
should be effective. 1t does not pay
to leave the land idle and still permit
a lot of weeds to grow and produce
seed or extend their root systems.
There is no easy way Of overcoming
these weeds; it takes systematic and
persistent work. and there doubtless
is no best way that will apply to ev-
cry farm.
Wild Oats and Mustard.
Wild oats and mustard are ANIMALS,
and so far as their persistency ia con-
cerned. should not be considered in a
class with quack grass and SOW thistle.
However, " ia nrnho h1o <I,,< Wild $50.
and mustard are doing more harm in
this section thar the quack grass and
thistle, because they are much more
widely distributed.
Ihey are, however, not to be feared
TO the extent of quack grass and this
tie. Being ANIMALS. if they are not al
lowed to reseed they can soon be
eradicated. 1t is commended by many
that mustard does not seriously af-
feet the growing crop. This is probably
true If there is plenty of moisture and
plant food available in the soil, but
during dry seasons mustard or any
other weed which grows with the crop
will affect the yield to a large extent.
and those who argue that there are
no bad effects are trying to relieve
their conscience, because they have
their fieids infested with them and do
not try to clean them up.
Their is no question but that this
year. in this vicinity. where we are
having it dry at the present time. wild
oats and mustard will greatly reduce
prospects for a crop. 1t 10 probable
that the loss will reach millions of
bushels of grain. The early warm
weather sprouted practically all the
wild oats there were in the soil. as
deep as 1t had been plowed.
II may be said that the wild oats
and mustard reduce the Yields lust
to the extent of their growing with
them. The question of dockage. etc,
due to wild oats and mustard and
other weeds in the grains that are
sold. has been discussed until it
should be familiar with and
1t la to the shame of the people OF
North Dakota that they grow SO many
Of these weeds.
Wild oats and mustard NAV he
cleaned out Of the soil by diskinR the
and and allowing these all to sprout
until about the present time. In fact.
many armer are blowing up land
that was disked early. inc It is a
perfect crust Of wild pats and mus
tard. This land is being plowed and
seeded to barley or early oats. or IN
some cases fax and If conditions are
favorable a good crop may be expect
ed. II only clean seed Is sown. and
this process repeated for a few years.