EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT
How Does the Law on Mowing Weeds
ln the Roads Work?   Offer
Suggestions.
1st Premium —In our district we are
well pleased with the workings of the
new road law pertaining to the mowing
of the weeds on the road side. Oar supervisor rigidly enforced the law, and in one
case hired a man to do the work for a
large farmer who never mows his fence
corners even on the Inside. For several
years no stock has been allowed on the
highways, and as a result the roadside is
rapidly setting in bine grass, and ere
long It will cost but a trifle to keep down
what few weeds get a. start. The fears
were that the time consumed in cutting
weeds, and charged up to fall road work
would materially out short the gravel
hauling, but one year's experienoe has
proven that we have almost as much
gravel out this season as usual, and the
roadsides present the appearance of neatness and thrift. It will no doubt have a
tendenoy to make the careless farmer
olean np the inside of his fenoe corners,
seeing the improved appearance caused
by the supervisor's work on the outside.
I would suggest that the thing most
needed ls to have supervisors enforce the
laws. I am led to make this suggestion
because I see ln driving over the oountry
that many supervisors have made no effort to enforce the law. If after a fair
trial, the law seems to detraot too muoh
from the gravel hauling, let the levy for
road purposes bs inoreased so that all
persons will virtually mow their own
weeds free of cost, as ail enterprising
farmers have been doing for years.
Weed's Enemy.
2d Premium—Tne law in this looallty
works to the satisfaction and gain of a
majority of the farmers. There are a
great many of the farmers, or more
properly speaking land owners, who
have paid no attention to the weeds and
bnshes along the highways, and ln many
plaoes the spacj from the roadway baok
two or three rods In the field has grown
up in weeds, and briers and bushes until
it looks more like a wilderness than the
habitation of man. Since there has been
offered compensation for improving their
own premises, 00 per cent of the roadways have been cleared up, adding over
100 per cent to the appearance and value
of adjacent property. Those places have
been the breeding grounds of broom
sage, thistles,burrs and other pests, muoh
to the annoyance of a neighbor who takes
some Interest ln his farm and tries to
keep lt olean.
We think the law was a move in the
right direotion, and after a trial of two or
three years giving each one an opportunity to clean up their boundary line with
no expense, it should be so changed and
amended as to -compel him to do the
work without a credit on his taxes, and
make a fine sufficient to get some one
else to do it in case of failure. The roads
need all the work they ever got and a
man should have pride enough to keep
his farm decent, or qnit the business.
Jennings Co. Farmer.
3d Premium.—The law ln regard to
mowing weeds works well in this dlstriot.
Farmers are glad to mow tb.I.-roads,
when paid for so doing. Many farmers
have cut down bushes, briars,:.**to , along
their farms, bringing to the publio gaze
old rotten rail fences, which will have to
be reset to compare favorably with the
roadsides. The weeds were out this year
after most of them, especially ti>' '**•«.
had matured seed, whioh is the most serious fault we find in the law, or rather
the enforcement of it. In different localities, weeds should be mowed at different
seasons, according to varieties. Where
the thistle is the predominant weed, they
shonld be mowed joit before it blooms,
about August 1st. Some weeds require
mowing a great deal earlier than this,and
a few later. We would favor an extension
of.the time, say from July 1st to Sept. 1st,
and that supervisors compel farmers to
mow just before the prevailing weeds
bloom. Where the roadsides are not well
set in grass, weeds should be mowed
twice daring the summer. We don't
want any more seed to mature. Farmers
are more apt to mow the weeds Inside
their fences when those outside are out.
Wayne Co.          C. S. B.ard.
In traveling along the publio highways
one oan but notice the air of tidiness,
whioh seems to prevail. The removal of
all brush, briers and noxious weeds has
improved the appearanoe more than one
can imagine. Many an old rail fence ls
to-day basking in the warm rays of a
bright September sun for the first time
in a decade. Most farmers have complied
with the requirements of the new law.
We are Inclined to believe, however, that
the law is nearer a failure than a success
for the following reasons: All good farmers have been in the habit of keeping the
highways in good condition heretofore,
and would have continued to do so without any law at all. It takes a large sum
of money, which has been heretofore
used in improving the road bed, and uses
it along the fenoe where it will be of no
direct benefit to the public, as the supervisor cannot be In different parts of his
(J is trio t at the same time, it puts a temptation before men to charge for more
work than they really do. We think it
would bs mnoh better if the next legislature would pass a law requiring the publio highways to ba kept in order by the
owners of the adjacent lands, gratis, and
oontinue as heretofore to use alimonies
paid in for road purposes for the improvement of the road bed. H. E. D.
Washington Co.
If I should be oalled on to deoide the
oase as a judge in oonrt, lt would be a de
cided "no good." I have notioed all my
life that a man who thought anything of
his farm, kept it clean inside as well as
outside the .fences. Take some of onr
greatest land owners, and their very door
yards are fnll of noxious weeds, and what
is the difference if thero are a few along
the road? Some of our roads were fairly
crowded with thistles, burdocks and
oockleburrs until the last day of grace,
when a man or boy w< s sent to orop them
down. The thistles had shed their woolly caps, the cow (another good law) had
carefully gathered the burs and distributed them all over the township she was
ln the habit of grazing in. I am forced
to think sometimes that our legislature
is a fizzle. A giist of laws is run through
every two years and onr men come home
with great honor, only to help break
these same laws which have been made.
If weeds must be mowed by law, mow Inside the fence ss well as outside. Make
the rich as well as the poor mow, the
town land owner as well as the small
farmer, and then all over the farm and
not a small bit along the roadway, and
call it a weed law. I would suggest also
that they should be mowed before the
bloom is perfect, J.W. K.
Wabash Co. -
As yie drive over our conntry roads we
oan see that something has happened.
The roads look clear and open, the briars
and weeds have been cut, in places where
they had not been out for years before.
The law is a flne thing to get some of
the lazy farmers out to work where they
can idle along and get $125 a day (eight
hours) to do their own work. Why not
pass a law to compel each man to keep
the briars and weeds cut along the rosd
that joins his land? And if he does not
keep the trash cut down let the road
supervisor have it done at his expense.
The law as itis now I consider as an
unjust one; for (he man that has done his
duty for  ten  y .are or more can cut hia
part of the trash in two or three hours,
while the idler who has not cut his for
ten years may spend a week at the job
and get so muoh more money than the
man that has kept his road cleaned eaoh
year. Again let the road supervisors
keep the road clean, and every man pay
according to his wealth. B B.
The law on cutting weeds along the
road is a failure as far as preventing the
scattering of seeds of obnoxious weeds ls
conoerned, as the seeds are mostly ripe
before the 20th of August. To prevent
the seeding from the roadside they will
have to be ont twice in the proper season.
About all we gain in cutting on the 20th
of August is the beautifying of the road,
after we have had to look on tho obnoxious stuff through all the growing season-
One thing farmers will learn from having
to out the weeds Is not to throw their
rubbish from the fields into the road. If
farmers would keep their road sides olean
of rubbish It takes but a short time to
drive along the road with the mower
twice during the summer, and the beauty
of your road and the attraction to the
traveler ought to pay you and your family for the labor if you have any appreciation of the beautiful. I observe farmers
who have mowed the roadside and forgot
to mow the fence row inside. O, what a
beautiful oontrastl Well, they got an
allowance on their road tax for the outside and forgot that the reward for mow-
in0 the inside would have been greater
still. The law ls a start in the right direction; yes, push it along until our roadsides are as olean of rubbish and weeds
as the lawn along the streets of our cities.
Marion Co. I. N. Cotton.
The road law on mowing weeds is a fine
thing. It canses people to out their
weeds along the roads who never thought
of it before, and don't think about any of
the others yet.
Bat $125 for eight hours' work will
cause some people to work a little that
would not otherwise do so.
Along some of the fence rows cut In
this community where the briers and
bushes were cut the fence was almost
rotted down for the wantof sunshine and
air.
The roads are much better with olean
sides,so the sun can strike them; they
dry off muoh sooner when we have
rains, especially In the spring when we
usually have so much rain. It doesn't
bother any that way now; we would be
glad now to see some rain. A B. C.
Harrison Co.
When I first heard of the weed law I
did not think muoh about lt; for, I supposed it applied t. roads not kept up by
the oounty. Buton being better informed
I determined to have our share of that
$1 25 money. Ours being a six-foot mower
and there being one side of 160 rods of
road to mow, we got in three swipes, of
about 15 minutes eaob, or 45 minutes.
We suppose if the road supervisor be real
lenient he will allow us for one hour's
time or 15 cents, which hardly compensates us for the bother, to say nothing
about grinding the sickle at both ends of
the experience, and a broken section. To
some, $125 may look bigger than a mowing machine, but we have oome to the
conclusion it is nearer the sizs of asoythe
with a 25 or 60 oents a day boy to wield it.
Tlppeoanoe Co. C. W. R
REVIEW.
We see by our correspondents how difficult lt is to make a praotical law, since
all laws must be general, covering all the
State.
It oertainly ls true that In most sections
weeds should be mowed twice. I noticed
the other day where we had mowed, a
good crop of ragweeds is in full bloom
now.
Several writers would compel farmers
to mow their road fronts. Suoh a law
would be unjust and unconstitutional.
In most cases we have already donated
the use of the roadway, And we now
have Idle capital in it, and pay taxes on
the land used for roads; why should wo
keep it mowed and oleared? Let the
publio who use it do that.
But the law does show several weak
points ln practice. In trying to put the
farmer on the baok it makes the work
botb uncertain and costly. It ls too much
everybodies business and is loosely done.
Itwould be vastly more satislactory if
the trustee were to hire all of the roads
mowed.
For example, ln oentral Indiana the
ground ls pretty level, and lt is quite
oommon to keep the roadway olean
enough to mow with a machine. This ls
very oommon about here. Now, my man
mowed my side of the road and ran empty
baok leaving the neighbor to mow his
side. This is very common,costing twice
as much as it ought to. Again my man
mowed 80 rods and turned at each end.
The snpervlsor could run a machine
across his dlstriot without turning. He
oould also mow both ways, going and
ooming.
Again: Oa many farms it ls a half mile
or more to go to mow 80 reds one side the
road. It takes three times as long to get
hltohed up and to the work as lt takes to
dolt.
Again: Itis an indncement to slovenly
farmers and dishonest men to leave the
road full of grubs and looso stumps,
logs and rails, so one can't use the machine, and he gets to kill more time mowing by hand, while the reverse would be
true if tho trustee had the whole job.
Suppose one man owned the State and
wanted the weeds mowed along highways. Wouldn't it be an awkward unbusinesslike method for him to tnrn loose
a hundred thousand hands with no boss
and no responsibility and allow them to
have every advantage of poor tools and
killing time?
What would such a man do? He would
lnstruot his district superintendents
(trustees if you please) to clean up, as far
as practical, all rubbish and grubs, so
machinery could bs used, and then employ competent, well directed help to
mow lt
How many times have I already seen
men standing ln the road, Ecy the in hand,
enjoying a good talk with passers by. It
is the best place in the world to kill time,
and every motive is offered by this law to .
prolong tr.e Job.
As W. W. P. says, the normal condition
of the roadside is to be a tough bluegrass
sod. Where not too much shaded, this
would be brought about much more
quickly If sown to bluegrass. We have
miles of roadside where hogs have not
rooted, and where the road bed is piked
so the sides are not tramped ln muddy
weather that scarcely grow a weed.
Thia work of weed mowing may need
continuing a long time ln places, bnt
whole counties can Boon avoid the larger
expense by getting it sodded. One drawback to natural sodding is allowing weeds
to make a rank growth early in the season, Jast when the grass needs a chance.
If mowed earlier grass would come sooner,
T. B T. doesn't allow a weed to seed on
his premises, and his road running
through his farm is a solid bluegrass sod,
and don't need mowing. He mows the
road between his house and barn with
a lawn mower. I asked one of his neighbors how they liked Teny, "O, pretty
well." The neighbors criticised him a
while becanse he wouldn't let hogs run
ln the road.
No. 82, Sept. 31.—How does the law on
mowing weeds in the roads work? Offer
suggestions.
Premiums of $1, 75o and 60o will be
given to 1st, 2d and 3d best articles eaoh
week. Let copy be as practical as possl
ble and forward it 10 days before publication to Carmel. E. H. Collins.