| Show PREVENT TOP GROWTH OF PERENNIALS AND BE VICTORIOUS IN WAR WITH WEEDS 4 f M 1 P Pa a y K a ds' ds s i lS N N. N NS w. w Well Kept Well Kept Roadside Where Weeds Are Controlled by Frequent Mowing Prepared by the United United- States Department Department Department Depart Depart- ment of or Agriculture Keep down the top growth of perennial per per- weeds in order to starve out the underground parts This top growth is equivalent to the lungs of animals animas without it they cannot live Any methods that successfully keep down the top growth and at the same time j I suit the farmers farmer's convenience may be I used Among the ways was that may be adopted for keeping down top growth are the following 1 Clean cultivation cultivation 2 pasturing 3 growing smother crops 4 frequent cutting with a hand hoe spud or mower and 5 smothering small patches with building paper or r other material Clean In Cultivation In most ca cases es cultivation will be relied upon to de destroy destroy de- de e- e stroy perennials The work may be bedone bedone bedone done either with or without or-without without a cultivated cultivated cultivated crop growing on the land Many farmers have haye eradicated perennial weeds b by giving ing thorough cultivation to toa toa toa a crop Cultivation Is especially effective effective effective tive If the crop has been planted In checkrows so as ns to permit working In two directions The ordinary shovel and tooth permit man many weed stems to slip through unharmed It Is often best therefore to use cultivators of ot the sweep or weed knife type These sweeps skim along under the surface of the soil and cut off all weed stems On many of the modern cultivators sweeps 9 to 18 Inches wide may be attached In place of shovels Perennials may often be attacked most effectively b by clean cultivation without growing a cultivated crop In other words wOlds by a n bare fallow It is seldom eldom advisable to fallow for an entire entire entire en en- tire year since this does not permit the flu he farmer to get any use of his lan land A A. better plan Is to use the land during during dur dur- tn ing the early part of the season and to fallow tallow It in the latter part For in instance Ih- Ih stance the land ma may be pastured until midsummer or a crop of hay or small grain ma may be taken off before starting the fallow This plan has the additional addi Honal advantage of starting the work of ot eradication by fallowing at a period perIod period pe pe- when nearly all nIl weeds are in their most susceptible stage Under this plan the work of ot fallowing should be started as soon after harvest as possible possible pos pos- sible filble the land should be plowed and then harrowed or disked at frequent Intervals during the remainder of the season to prevent pre top growth Ordinarily Ordinarily shallow plowing Is best in fallowing fallowing fal fal- fal- fal lowing for weed control as this keeps the mass of weed roots at or near the surface where they will be more ea easily easily ily fly dried out by the sun If this fallowing fallowing fal fal- fal- fal lowing be well done many kinds of ot perennials perennials perennials per per- will have died by the close of ot the season Pasturing Pasturing Past Pasturing may often be found round of ot much help In keeping down the top growth of ot perennials Sheep are of ot first Importance in this tion They will browse upon almost all kinds of weedy growths and fatten under the process In parts of the tho West when the pasture grasses b become be come brown during the summer sheeR sheep will turn their attention to the weeds which are the only green feed in sight This fact has been taken anta ad advantage e of ot ofin ofin otIn in killing bindweed and the small- small leaved milkweed Goats are even more mor omnivorous than sheep but the regions where It Is profitable to keep goats are limited Hogs Bogs are of some value in weed eradication because they will root for the underground parts of ot many weeds These animals have been used to great advantage In getting rid of bindweed or wild morn morn- ing lag Where It Is feasible to confine sheep goats or hogs to very er restricted areas for one or more seasons the they will Inmost Inmost In Inmost most cases completely kill perennial weeds Where It Is not practicable to graze sufficiently close to entirely destroy perennials the grazing still greatly weakens the root s system of ot these plants making it an easy task to Complete the destruction b by Smother Crops Thick Thick stands and vigorous growths of ot smother crops may be depended on to keep down the top growth of perennials The most commonly used smother crops are alfalfa alfalfa al nl- falfa buckwheat soy beans millet sorghum and bur clover Some weeds are more susceptible to this treatment than others Bermuda grass may be eradicated by a continuous succession of smother crops Alfalfa where It succeeds well Is the most effective smother crop largely because it combines combines com com- bines frequent clipping with the smothering effect It may be relied upon to reduce greatly or even to eradicate eradicate erad erad- I entirely most perennials except some of the grassy grass weeds In the case of smother crops as ns with pasturing the principal value Is to weaken the root s systems stems of perennials which facilitates facilitates fa fa- the work of cultivation which Is to follow Mowing or cutting Cutting Cutting off oft repeatedly repeatedly repeatedly re re- re- re the tops of perennial weeds with a mower scythe or other tool ma may sometimes be used to advantage This Is of most use on pastures roadsides roadsides roadsides road road- sides and other uncultivated places It has been beets found that mowing twice a year ear for two years rears will eradicate the fern brake brale one of the bad weeds of pastures In New England and New NewYork York Smothering With Building Paper and Other Materials Where Where perennial weeds occupy very limited areas It is often practicable to prevent further spread by covering the Infested area urea with building paper taking care to lap over and weight down the ends so as asto asto asto to exclude all sunlight Building paper paper paper pa pa- per suitable for this use normally may maybe maybe maybe be obtained at from to 4 i 1 per thousand square feet teet or 07 97 to per acre depending on Its thickness Manure straw and other materials are arc also employed for this purpose |
