The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-03
NORTH DAKOTA FARMERS IN
FINISH FIGHT ON SOW THISTLE

= Farmers in the northwestern part of
North. Dakota have girded themselves
for a fight to the finish on the inroads
dof the perennial SOW thistle, according
to a bulletin just issued from the
North Dakota Agricultural college, the
work Of Sidney w. Hooper, one Of the
members Of the extension staff, con-
certed campaigns have been begun
against the noxious weed, whose In
roads have become so alarming that
whole counties have declared martial
law against 1t and have decreed that
it must 60. ~
Concerted campaigns are planned in
Pembina, Walsh, and Grand Forks
counties. Weed commissioners have
been or will be appointed in all these
countless and the county agents are
carrying on campaigns of education to
arouse the communities to- the situation
which faces them and the necessity for
organized action.
Each year the perennial SOY thistle
Is overlapping it's previous boundaries
by Is or 20 miles and several thousand
acres Of land has been practically
abandoned due to the presence of this
weed. On scores Of farms last year
the yields Of grain were so reduced by
the thistle that the crop did not pay
to cut and the farmers simply went in
with a mower and cut the crop-about
10 per cent grain and 30 per cent SOW
thistles in order to destroy the weed
before the seeds were produced.
Five weed commissioners have been
appointed in Pembina county and they
have been authorized to appoint at
least two deputies during the busy sea-
o in order to effectively carry out
the regulations prescribed in the SOW
thistle law. A special SOW thistle week
will be observed July 10-15 at which
time the weed commissioners and the
county agent, will hold afternoon and
evening meetings to encourage farmers
to prevent the SOW thistle from going
to seed.
Efforts will be made to get the farm
ers to sign pledges to prevent the SOW
thistle from blossoming on their land,
and absentee landlords will be urged to
share the expenses with the tenants Of
effective control practices.
The county commissioners are to
make a special effort to see that SOW
thistle Is not allowed to bloom along
county roads, drainage bitches and
river banks, and to see further that the
authorities in towns and villages keep
the weed from poisoning on vacant
lots and around the outskirts.
Meetings have already been held in
every township of the county by Coun-
.ty Agent Parizek, and In ~ Of the "a
townships, weed men have been elect
ed to cooperate with the weed commits
! sioners, particularly in plating the
amount Of the infestation In the county.
The weed commissioners are Charles
Gilroy, Drayton; Thomas Fuller, Ham
ilton; Alfred johnson, Neche; r. A.
Jamison, Walhalla, and Frank Ralston,
Crystal. i.
+ Grand Forks at Work.
Weed commissioner in Grand Forks
county, who hold over until July l of
this year, are Al. Lindsey, Marvel /;
Chris. Binaz, Grand Forks; A. B. Muir,
Inkster, s. r. Mercer, Larimore, and
Mons Rasmussen, Thompson. Meetings
will be held In all areas where the SOW
thistle is bad for the purpose of arrang-
ing cooperation with the weed commits
sioners, according to the plans of
County Agent d. B. Morris. These
meetings will be held late In June or
early In July. Weed commissions for
Walsh county win be appointed ut the
next meeting Of the county board.
Experiences related by farmers who
have been successful in fighting sow
thistle show that grain farming en-
courages the spread Of SOW thistle,
making necessary summer, tillage or
the raising Of crops that mature before
the low thistle produces seed. A sys-
tenn OF livestock farming or sdiversifi-
cation which involves the raising Of
cultivated feed and pasture crops tends
ito control and check the spread OF the
low thistle. Es
Best PractIcss.
& Lie IullOWlMg I6eIS are apparent
from the experiences Of these farmers
according to the information Id this
new college bulletin:
Almost Invariably, the farmer who
has some stock and pasture and Ii ro-
tating his crops has little SOW thistle
to worry about while the straight grain
farmer often has little grain to- worry
PAPER DRESS FORMS
s.x HANDY FOR HOME USE
For the woman who wishes TO dress
we'll with the least possible cost, u
homemade paper dress form Is most
valuable. The form Ia made by past
Ing strips Of guInmed paper on q tight
lifting vest worn BY the owner, remov-
/ Ing the stiff form by cutting It UP the
back, reuniting the severed edges. and,
Il desired, mounting the form On
stand in such 4 manner that It the
exact height of the woman FOR whom II
was made