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Show White Top Causes Heavy Crop Losses Utah farmers are facing a serious weed problem. At present they are suffering a loss of approximately $2,000,000 a year and the toll is becoming be-coming greater with each succeeding year, warns Professor J. C. Hogen-son, Hogen-son, extension agronomist of the Utah State Agricultural college. This loss is caused by the weeds occupying the ground that should be growing productive crops. They rob the soil of plant food and moisture which rrnns should recsivfi. thus the best growing condition. Thim will exhaust the food supply stored in the roots much more quickly than will be the case if the plants are allowed al-lowed to remain dry during th growing season. When the food supply sup-ply stored in the root3 is exhausted and no leaf surface is allowed to grow so that more food can be manufactured, manu-factured, the plants die. If the weed patch is small, then spray sufficiently often during the growing season with a solution of calcium chlorate, using about three pounds of the chlorate per square j rod of weeds to keep the tops killed down. Where the patches are large this method is altogether too expensive. , causing a lower yield of inferior quality. They create an ever-increas- , ing amount of wwk to keep them in check. Probably the worst weed in Utah is white top, a perennial which multiplies mul-tiplies both by seed and by underground under-ground root stocks. Every inch of root stock, no matter whether attached at-tached to the plant or cut off, will produce a new thrifty plant, Professor Profes-sor Hogenson points out. There are two ways of handling the white top. The method to be used should be determined by the size of the patch. If the patch is large, cultivate; cul-tivate; while if it is small, use a chemical spray. Thorough cultivation means that the operation should be done suffi- , ciently often to prevent new growth ' from appearing above the surface of the ground, beginning in the spring i and continuing until the end of the grow:'ng season in the fall. During the year the patch should be watered water-ed frequently to keep the plants in |