Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-07-08
nv Js g. HHaney, Agricultural EEsaztennast
sow Thistlc the Greatest Menace

sWlldHgoatS and CHI EWeeds&aTeaEyery
bad, there liz no question but the SOW
quack grass, wild oats mustard stcs.s
may be drifted around to some x
tent in the winter BY the snow, or.
water. in the spring, but theysdo not,
blow about In the air and travel for
miles. as does the e of the SOW
thistle. 5sEa Il \ 81
The SOW thistle. because of til viz
orops growth seems to choke outSthei
grains and cultivated grasses toAsa9
greater extent than almost any5sother
weed. There Is IA prevalent notion
that In some way IT spoisons theNland.
However, if the land on gwhicnSsssow
thistle grows is cultivated In such a
way as to kill themSout, the succeed
ing crops are Just as good or better
than o n land not infested, so there
seems to be nothing to the rotionSthat
question OF utilizing the plant food
and moisture to the extent of driving
on. other plants that try to grow with
them " M n sSs NEE
E~radicatton OF theNsow Thistle
weeds will not be eradicated until the
farmers OF the infested districts are
~Ieducated to the Importance Of get
ting rid OF these weeds, and realize
that the only way to do pRisSbyscao con
Icerted action. It does very little good
for one mar to clean up his farm, lie
neighbors allow sow thistle to 20 to
In districts which are alrea,dysbad
lly infested, completes eradication
would be almost impossible, because
1.-THE expense would be SO great the
farmers would not be able to stand
1t. In such areas the weeds must be
controlled. That is, they must not be
tallowed to go to seed and spread fur
ither. In this way they can be- held
I'm check and gradually cleaned out.
70 DO this methods Of cultivation
| n rotation o facrops must be adopted
which will enable the farmers to kill
out many. of thesweeds and lessen the
Injury done by those which are left.
Land which is badly infested may be
f~pastured with cattle or. other stock to
good advantage, and some returns
secured from the weeds, while other
areas are being cultivated and cleaned
lup. -.
To prevent the spreading by seed
1t Will be necessary to keep the weeds
down SO they do not go to seed.
This will mean also that in sowing the
farm, seeds, great care must be taken
that they do not contain seed Of the
sow thistle. or any other noxious
weeds. ~ sa
The killing Of the rootssof the SOW
thistle may be accomplished in sew
eral ways. One method frequently
tried, is to sow some other crop thai
will crowd out the SOW thistle. Bronze
grass is capable OF doing this under
certain conditions, and also alfalfa and
sweet clover may be used with sue.
cess In some localities. However, in
most cases the sow thistle will doubt.
less crowd out the crops that are
lsown with them.
Small patches of SOW thistle and
lother weeds may be smothered on
by covering with tar paper, manuirye. OF
4 straw, or by sowing a quick CROWN
crop. after the weeds have been sci
back by deep blowing, or by some
other system of weakening them.
Under favorable conditions the SOW
thistle is easily eradlcated. For: in.
Stance, in 1917, north Of Drayton. N
D. s40gacres of badly infested SOW
thistle land was completely cleaned b,
rye. This land was not summer fall.
lowed, but the SOW thistle in 1915 wal
allowed to grow until 1t Just began tt
bloom, July LIST, when it was moved
and the land left until the plants ha6
gained some Roadway again, and il
Ed1sk-harrowed three times, in the fal
and seeded to " August 25th.. Dur,
ing the summer of 1916, on the AZ
acres sowed to rye, there was not 6
handful Of SOW thistle that came int
bloom, and on either side#of this there
was q solid mass of SOW thistle. One
treatment completely eradicated thu
SOW thistle on this 40 acre piece. TIL,
faIl of51916 was very dry, and thu
blowing and .disking was more efec
tive on this account. Under ordinary
such results might not b.
expected.
No#plant can survive any grea
ilength$of time without air, and itlget4
Il its air through the leaves which ar,
formed above ground. II the grount
Is kept absolutely black for one year
THE SOW thistle, and most other weed,
Twill be entirely killed-there is nj
liQuestion about this
Larger fields that are badly infest
ed may be plowed shallow, in Thu
spring, nand continuous cultivate
practtced throughout the summer, 20,
the. weeds may be allowed to come t,
near the blooming stage, before pillow
ing, but care must beStaken that non,
OF the plants are in: bloom, or seed will
be formed that will grow the mex
wear. To avoid any see%dsripening ant
to- clean the ground so that it will
cultivate properly, the weeds shoult
be moved, raked and burned. \
The ground may then be Skim
plowed, three or four inches deep. ant
aweekssor tentdays later the duck foo
c~ultivator, described nlanother &plac,
In this article, used to run Just a,
Ideep as the plow, and cut every plan
THAT q started. II the ground ii
clean, and not too hard the duck foo