Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1913 — IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WEEDS [ARTICLE]

IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING WEEDS

By F. J. Pipa,

Botanical Department,

-Purdue University Experiment - Station. .. Purdue University Agricultural Extension. ?

- In this age of the conservation of natural resources much is being said, and Justly so, regarding the conservation of the soil productivity. For, after all, the existence of the worlds population depends entirely upon the products of the land. The main question, then, confronting us today, with the ever growing population, is, how shall we increase dr at least maintain the productivity of the soil? That much of our land has been ill-man-aged and mistreated in the past and a great deal of plant food wasted is true in many cases. One of the commonest examples of the wasting of plant food'ls found in allowing weeds to flourish in the same field witty cultivated crops. The Canada thistle, cocklebur, red sorrel, foxtail and other weeds draw upon the soil for nourishment just as- corn, grain, clover and other cultivated crops do. If one-half of the stand in , a clover meadow is red sorrel or white top, it means that practically one-half of the amount of plant food taken up during that season has'been wasted. It makes no difference whether certain weeds come up early in the spring or late in the season after the corn is laid by, the cultivated crops suffer in every case. In a recent farmers’ bulletin, published by the United States department of agriculture, it is stated, on the strength of several years’ experiments conducted in several states, that in the cultivation of corn the keeping down of the weeds and not the stirring of the soil is the Important factor. Some farms have but a few noxious weeds. Their owners undoubtedly beMeve ttyat “prevention Is better than cure.” This, of course, is the best practice. Everyone should avoid, so far as possible, the introduction of. weeds by using clean seed, especially' in the case of the forage crops, such as clover, alfalfa, timothy and other grasses.

Not a few weeds are reliable indicators of soil conditions. The common sedges, smartweeds and horsetail, for example, tell the farmer that the soil in which they are growing xs too wet and needs to be drained. The proper course to follow in such a case is not to waste time and energy in trying to eradicate these weeds by some special method, but tp provide adequate drainage. This will enable the cultivated crops to thrive and gradually crowd the weeds out. The red sorrel which is often found growing abundantly in the meadows also reveals an Interesting story concerning the soil. The clover and alfalfa crops can not compete successfully with the red sorrel unless lime is present in the soil In sufficient quantities necessary for their proper development. The red sorrel will thrive, on the other hand, even on acid soils and its abundance in the meadow may usually be considered, therefore, as a sign of deficiency of the lime supply in the soil. Its presence may also Indicate a lack of fertility, a soil too poor in humus and consequently subject to leaching, or other things of importance. Other cases of similar nature can be cited, but these will perhaps serve to Illustrate the point. If certain noxious weeds become established on the farm in spite of all precautions, then it devolves upon the farmer to do his best to get rid of them. In order to accomplish this task successfully there is an advantage’ in knowing such weeds and their habits and thus be prepared to use proper measures in their eradication. The value of such knowledge is plain. A farmer can not readily grow bumper crops unless he understands the requirements for their best development, and likewise it may be found difficult to eradicate certain harmful weeds unless he understands their nature.

The annual r and biennial weeds must be treated differently from the perennial weeds. The annuals and the biennials, such as the cocklebur, prickly lettuce,, wild carrot and mullen, for example, can usually be controlled by preventing the maturing of their seed; but in the case of the perennials, as the Canada thistle, bindweed, horse nettle, and yellow dock, the underground parts must either be destroyed or starved in order to stop new growth.- The perennial weeds are commonly divided, with respect to their underground parts, into two groups. One group comprises those with true roots, the examples of which are buckhorn, yellow dock and iron weed; the other group Includes all which have underground stems, as the Canada thistle, quack grass and the hedge bindweed, and also weeds with long . horizontal roots, as -the horse nettle, which behave in a similar way. The underground stems, also known as rootstocks, can be distinguished from the true roots by buds borne at short intervals. They have, as a rule, a great power of reproduction, and even though cut to pieces and dragged from their original place to another part of the field, each section is able to start a new growth. And this is what often happens. A field with a patch of Canada thistle or quack grass is plowed and harrowed, and the careless farm,er, not knowing the character, of these weeds, is likely to draw and scatter

—< —«——i —.——————— pieces of their rootstocks over a largearea and then find to his surprise that the dreaded weeds are rapidly spreading. It is quite important therefore to have some knowledge of such weed* and their characteristics In order that proper care may be exercised in dealing with them. \ Ithas been stated that “prevention is better than cure," and it may be added that "to nip the evil in the bud” Is the next best practice. A noxious weed destroyed before it has a chance to spread may save a great deal of trouble in the future. As an illustration: A farmer from the northern part of the state brought a weed to the Indiana experiment station for identification. It was the bracted plantain. He first noticed it several years ago as a clump of about half a dozen plants near the farmhouse. Within a period of about four or five years this weed had almost , complete possession of seven acres of land. Had he known the bracted plantain and its nature and pulled it up when it first appeared he would have saved himself much extia labor, besides the loss sustained in the decreased yields from the Infested fields. Such weeds as the Canada thistle, horse nettle, quack grass and others have sometimes been allowed to spread over ■ large areas, simply because the farmers were not familiar With their characteristics. Mr. W. S. Blatohley states in bls “Indiana Weed Book” that of the fiftyfive of the most aggressive weeds in Indiana, forty-one, or seventy-five per cent, are of foreign origin. It means that had the farmers in times past realized' their harmful nature and fought these foreign intruders as soon as they appeared, the land < owners of the present would not have to suffer so great losses caused annually by such weeds.