Evening journal., 1921-03-30
new DISCOVERIES
IN AGRICULTURE
Weeds Are With Us Always,
But Mostly 1t is Our
Own Fault
SOME MEASURES
FOR CONTROL

Weeds have been with us since
the day when Adam, doomed TO earn
his bread by the sweat OF his brow,
began scraping with a stick at the
plants he did not want in order to
give those he did want a chance to
grow. In modern days farmers are
apt TO ignore weeds or TO accept them
as an inevitable evil.
The results OF over 200 expert
ments conducted by the United
States Department OF Agriculture
with va~ous crops strongly indicate
that after preparing the seed bed the
main OBJECT Of cultivation is TO de-
stroy weeds. II this theory is cor
rect. the weed control problem over
shadows all others with which the
farmer Is confronted Modern agli-
cultural science has discovered much
concerning the control and eradica-
ton Of these iosidious land thieves
The wild onion. for example. was
considered a hopeless problem from
Massachusetts 20 Georgia and as far
vest as Missouri and Arkansas until
"a weed specialist in the Department
of Agriculture discovered tina; the
plant produced two kinds Of bulbs.
One type was soft-coated and
formed the new plants during late
summer and fall; the other was
hard, so that Il was unharmed by
winter. and ready TO form the new
plants in the spring. with this TO
guide them the specialists proved
that the wild onion can be controlled
by piowing deeply in the late fall to
destroy the plants originating from
the soft-coated bulbs. and by plant
ing an intertilled crop, such as corn
the following spring TO kill the
plants that came up from the hard
coated bulbs
Weedy roadsides are constant
sources OF trouble for the adjoining
farm lands. The seeds are carried
miles by automobiles, horses and
passing wagons, so that they be-
come a menace TO the whole COM
munity. II nothing better can be
done with the roadside weeds they
can be moved twice a year This
treatment. il well kept up. will
effectively check the trouble. Some
times a roadside can be converted
into a lawn, or Il can be used for
crops. to the pride and profit Of the
farmers whose land Il borders.
Control Measures.
The underlying principles OF weed
control are shown in these rules by
the specialists Of the United States
Department OF Agriculture;
Use pure seed.
Rotate the farm crops.
Utilize pasturing animals. particu-
larly sheep and goats, in keeping
weeds down.
Never allow weeds TO mature. Nov
before the seeds have ripened.
Use intertilled crops, and culu-
vate often.
KIN weeds while they are young
by means OF a harrow or a wecder.
Compost manure for two months
before using IL Il contains weed
seeds. Practice surface cultivation
after the crops have been removed
in the fall
Use smother crops: buckwheat,
soy beans. cowpeas, velvet beans,
clover. etc.
Chemical poisons often are help
ful.
Prepare the seed beds thoroughly
to give the crop start over the
weeds.
Hunt out the scattered weeds and
XIII them.
Now dangerous grasses and burn
the dry cuttings.
Small patches Of perennial weeds
can be killed by covering for tho
entire season with building paper
boards. or other materials TO ex
clude the light.
XIII the roots OF perennial weed
by keeping the tops cut down.
Grow alfalfa when practicable OF
weed-infested land.
Soil improvement by the use o
lime OF green manure will help 4
control the weeds.
Soiling crops prevents the weed
from reaching maturity.
When other methods fail, use tn
bare fallow. It is better TO lose
whole crop for one year than to los
large part OF the crops every year
DO not introduce weed seeds b.
means OF thrashing machines, stocl
ptraur char