Method of Destroying the Weeds of Cereal Fields, such as the Wild Mustard, Wild Radish, and others of the Charlock Family.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 7th July, 1899-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1899
Method of Destroying the Weeds of Cereal Fields, such as the Wild
Mustard, Wild Radish, and others of the Charlock Family.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of Birkbeck Bank Chambers, Southampton Build-
ings, in the County of London, Consulting Engineer and Chartered Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (as communicated to me
from abroad by Bayerische Aktiengesellschaft für chemische und Landwirts-
chaftlich chemische Fabrikate, of Heufeld, Oberbayern, Germany,) and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
Up to the present time the effectual and unobjectional destruction of weeds
such as charlock and the like, which are so detrimental to the growth of cereals
could only be effected by hand hoeing, no rational destruction by chemical
agents having hitherto been possible.
It has no doubt been observed that the roots of most plants that are not so
called salt plants (date palms) could, for instance, be injured by means of common
salt solutions, and caused to die.
The proposals however to employ common salt solutions for the destruction.
of weeds in garden paths have led to no practical results; as the contiguous
useful plants were also thereby destroyed. Better results were obtained with
ferrous sulphate and sulphate of copper, which do not remain permanently
active in the ground, like common salt, but become oxidised in a short time.
Although the employment of such metallic salt solutions. did not cause any
great difficulty in cases where weeds had to be destroyed in a small way, and
where they could be applied with care so as not to injure the other plants,
these metallic salt solutions were more or less inapplicable for the destruction
on a large scale of field weeds, in particular the family of charlocks which occur
everywhere in such large masses.
After numerous experiments a means has been discovered for the effectual
destruction of the weeds that interfere to so large an extent with cereal culti-
vation, in particular the charlocks.
The method employed for this purpose is based on the employment of the
metallic salts that have a poisonous effect upon weeds in using in particular
the easily oxidisable ferrous sulphate (Fe SO) in a calcined pulverulent condi-
tion, which protoxide anlt acts destructively upon the weeds.
The employment of this agent can be effected either with or without the addi-
tion of inert bodies by strewing it upon the corn fields in such manner that it
causes the destruction of weeds not of the gramineae order, such as sinapisar-
vensis (wild mustard) and raphanus raphanistrum (wild radish), while the cereal
plants themselves are not injuriously affected thereby. This application of
ferrous sulphate in powder form has the practical advantage over the sprinkling
with the before mentioned sulphate solutions; that it is simply strewed, like
manure powders over the land infested with charlocks, such as wild mustard
and wild radish either in the early morning while the dew is on the leaves,
or immediately after rain, while the leaves are still wet, so that by this means

page_text: the tedious work is avoided of dissolving the ferrous sulphate, and of conveying
the solution on to the land, as also the obtaining of expensive syringes and
the tedious process of sprinkling which requires a considerable number of hands.
The great advantage however of using the ferrous sulphate in a finely divided
condition is that the powder only settles upon the broadleaved charlook weeds
and not upon the contiguous fine halms of young cereals, and, becoming dis-
solved on such leaves, destroys the vegetable protoplasm, after which it becomes
oxidised and consequently innocuous.
The powder is preferably propared in such manner that the ferrous sulphate
is carefully calcined, is then effectually pulverised by grinding, sifted, and
then mixed with equally finely pulverised diluents. The latter may consist of
substances that are neutral relatively to plant growth, or of such materials
that at the same time have some value as manures,, so that, in addition to killing
the weeds, the work of strewing the destroying agent will effect a supply of
plant nourishing material to the cereals whose growth has been retarded by
the growth of the weeds. Such diluents are, for example, bone-meal, wool-dust,
phosphates gypsum,, limestone, caolin or clay, road dust, &c., and generally
every material that will not enter into such a combination with the metal salts:
as will interfere with their desired', action.
As example of a suitable weed destroying agent according to the above
described invention may be cited a compound consisting of from 15 to 30
per cant. of ferrous sulphate in a calcined and pulverised state, and 85. to 70
per cent of finely powdered gypsum.
t
Of this compound when containing about 15 per cent of ferrous sulphate,
from 5 to 10 kilos. are strewed upon an area of about 120 square yards."
"Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. Method for destroying field weeds not of the gramineae order, and in
particular those of the charlock family such as sinapisarvensis (wild mustard)
and raphanus raphanistrum (wild radish) consisting in reducing to powder
ferrous sulphate, with or without admixture of inert materials and then strewing
such powder over the weeds, substantially as described.
.
2. In the method of destroying weeds referred to in the first claim, the use
of a fine powder composed of from 15 to 30 per cent of calcined ferrous sulphate
and. 85 to 70 per cent. of inert diluent material such as: bone-meal, gypsum;
limestone, clay powder, phosphates, which powder 'is' strewed over the cereal
fields infested with charlock or other weeds, either when dew is falling or after'
rain, substantially as described: