VOL. LVH.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JUNE 14, 1902.
NO. 24
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MOW CAN YOU KILL   THE HONEY   LOCUST,
THE SAND BUR,   AND OTHER   NOXIOUS   PLANTS   THAT   ARE
HARD TO DISPOSE OF?
Destroy Them While Young.
1st Premium.—The quickest way to kill
the honey locust is to pile brush or any
material that will make a hot fire around
the tree at the base and set it afire. Soil
oc which trees have been killed in this
way in* the spring of the year will produce a good crop of corn or other crops
the same season. There is no more
sprouting as it kills the tree, root and
branch. Where one has a large grove
of them to kill, as is sometimes the case,
the above method is a slow one, and for
the smaller trees a faster way is to select
a dry hot week in August and girdle the
trees, three feet or more from the ground,
and peel the bark from the girdle down
to the roots. This is almost as effective
in time as the fire process, but does not
always tell on the trees immediately as
the fire does. While the killing of trees
will be of interest to a limited number of
your readers who live in timbered districts, we believe that the destruction of
weeds is of much more importance and is
a subject which interests every reader of
the Indiana Farmer who is a tiller of the
soil. For convenience we will divide the
weeds into three classes, annuals, biennial and perennial. For the complete destruction of a noxious plant, the production of seed must be prevented, and if the
plant is a biennial or perennial the root
stock must be killed. The processes by
which seed production may be prevented
are simple in most cases, and in no case
are they impracticable. Yet with all
of our labor and care with the common
weeds that grow so abundantly and under
such unfavorable circumstances, it seems
almost impossible to eradicate them from
our farms. We can*, however, at least
keep them under subjection to such an extent that their damage will be comparatively small. The sand bur belongs to the
annual class. It is injurious wherever
it gets a foothold. It flowers from June
to October and ripens its seed from July
to November. As its name indicates, the
plant is a grass, covered when* mature
with small, round burs of green color,
fading to straw color as they ripen. It
thrives best in pastures where the soil is
inclined to be sandy. In such localities
it is called sand bur. In other localities
it is called grass bur, hedge-hog grass, or
Rocky Mountain sand bur. To rid a field
of this plant or any of the annuals, such
as fox-tail, pig weed, purslane, rag weed,
cockle bur, horse weed, dog fennel, etc.,
all of which ate annuals and spring each
year from seed only, first burn the field
over. This will destroy many of the
stills on the surface. Then plow the
field shallow, so as not to bury the remaining seeds too deeply in the soil. This
w ill cause most of the seed to germinate.
Now cultivate, no deeper than the plowing. This will kill many of the weeds
that have started and cause more seeds
to germinate in this thin layer of soil.
Now plow the land deeper and prepare
and plant to some crop that will require
frequent cultivation, which will destroy
the seeds as they germinate from time to
time through the season. We learn by
experience that these annual weeds all
grow and thrive best on soils that have
been plowed but not cultivated, so do
not plow a  field and  allow  it to remain
uncultivated. A thousand weeds can be
destroyed as they germinate and are
coming up with the same labor it takes to
destroy one full grown weed, so I would
say, kill and destroy while young and as
fast as they come. Mow the wheat and
oat fields over two or three weeks after
harvest to prevent the weeds from going
to seed. This will make a mulch that
will be of benefit to the young grass previously sown or to protect the soil from
winter winds as well. Cultivate the early
potato patch and sow to turnips or some
other fall crop. This will destroy the
weeds and produce a paying crop of tur-
,iips as well. Mow the weeds aloug the
fences, hedge rows and roadsides, while
they are in bloom, and in this way many
weed seeds will be prevented from ripening and being scattered over the field by
winds, birds and animals. Keep always
in mind that to eradicate the annuals the
seeds must be destroyed. Biennial weeds,
Mn-h as burdock, wild carrot, bull thistle,
£tc, grow root the first year of growth
and iluring the second season produce seed
and die. Some species will, if prevented
from going to seed by mowing or cutting
the seed stem above the crown of the
root, live three years or even more. Such
plants should not be cut above ground,
as it induces them to send up several
shoots or stalks instead of the one. They
should be grubbed out or the root cut below the crown, which can be done with
a tool made by placing a chisel on the
end of a fork handle. Biennials must
have their seed destroyed, and their root
severed below the crown to destroy the
plant itself. Periennial weeds reproduce
themselves by seeds each year ami also by
some form of root system. Yellow dock,
wild onion, plantain, milkweed, etc., are
found among this class. These are the
hardest to destroy. Grubbing will destiny
ihem, but the process is a slow one. A
dense, sod-forming grade, or a crop of
clover or millet, is inclined to smother
them out. Stacking grain* on a patch of
them will exclude the light and cause
them to die. They will also die in time
if the stalk and leaves are frequently cut,
preventing growth above ground. Plowing
and cutting the roots in the spring of the
}ear is inclined to multiply and increase
their growth, especially the grasses. Seed
must be destroyed, roots must be grubbed
cut, or growth prevented above ground, to
eradicate them. F.  D.  M.
Cumberland  Co.,  111.
Require! Constant Vigilance.
2d Premium.—The sand bur, called but-
tonweed with us, is an annual that blossoms from June to October. It seeds
a month after bloom, and haunts sandy
pastures, especially those bordering on
streams. Its green burs stick tight to
the sheep. It is killed by close cultivation of the ground and burning the seedy
stalks as one does the burdock. Like
the latter it is not killed out by cutting
while in flower. The honey locust, like
the sand bur, is a most difficult thing to
get rid of. As in the case of the biennial
weeds, cut its top and you send greater
strength to the roots, and where you destroyed one plant a dozen spring up
around. The neighbor next me left a
clump of them standing, thinking to make
posts of them. He cut the posts and
found they began immediately to rot.
About this time he punctured his hSut*!
with one of the thorns, and a valuable
horse ran one of them in its foot. Both
were side-tracked from work for three or
four months. He ordered the locust destroyed, but they persisted in coming up,
until at last he deadened them while the
"sap was up," as he termed it, which is
in June. This killed them out. Another
neighbor bored holes in the main roots,
put in salt, and got rid of some of them,
finally getting rid of all by cutting out
and building fires over the roots. This
last is considered by some old fashioned
farmers the speediest way of getting rid
of the honey locust. Cutting many kinds
of weeds while in flower will kill them.
There are others that do not succumb so
easily. An elderberry patch which for
years we tried to clean out died for good
and all when we cut it down in full blossom time. If meadow lands are kept well
seeded and plow lands well cultivated,
w:iils will not bother the farmer much.
There is a farm law with us which compels a farmer to keep the sides of the
roads bordering his land free from certain weeds. There should be a village
ordinance compelling the same everywhere
within its limits, as in vacant lots, commons and neglected corners, many a new
and crop-destroying weed finds a strong
start   tn  spread  cuimtryward.
The strongest weed, like all other plants,
cannot live long if deprived cont'nuously
of its breathing apparatus-its leaves. If
one keeps whacking them off they are
bound to give up the ghost at last. Cultivating and turning under weeds in a
wet time is one good way to give them a
good start; cultivating while dry will go a
long way toward killing them out. After
the summer crops are off the ground it
is a mistake to allow them to lie idle for
weeds  to  get  a   foothold   in.     A   sec I
crop, such as rye or crimson clover,
should speedily follow. Tin* Canada thistle if not too thick can be killed by simply
[Hilling them up. If thick they must be
plowed up as soon as they appear above
the ground, and the ground rolled. A
single season usually ends the trouble if
persistent efforts are made. The white
wild, or ox-eye daisy, is nn excellent
weed to restore worn out land, and it contains as much nutriment for cattle as
hay, but in removing it from the ground
it takes too much of the ground's fertility
with it . If it is not wanted to build up
the land by going back each year to it,
it must be eradicated. Cultivating crops
wbich must be worked over often is the
one best way of getting rid of it. Not
many would think the cockle bur a relative to the sunflower aud aster, but it is.
Tin* ground it occupies should be seeded
to clover and grass. Ragweed, bitter-
weed, or hogweed as some call it, is a
persistent weed. Close cultivation and
heavy cropping will keep it down. Letting sheep pasture in fields infested with
it is another, and some think the greatest,
help in getting rid of it. Corn cockle:
This seed getting in* our wheat lowers its
price and makes poor wheat for flour. It
can scarcely be screened from the wheat.
To stamp this weed out requires seed
wheat, to be screened as clean as possible from all cockle seeds, and planted
upon ground not in wheat the year before. The farmer must always be on the
lookout with spade and spud for -the reappearance of weeds he thought fully
eradicated, because the seeds of so many
weeds will lie in* the earth for several
years and then germinate. Buring over
ground destroys the seeds of many weeds.
The bull thistle and wild carrot produce
their ^seed V second year of their life
aim        'i They must be  prevented
from li      - i ' i. by cutting them out
below the c.    - . "'  the  roots.  Wild
carrot and wild oaC; ■> troublesome
weeds.     Persistent  cuu. if  each
before they seed will finally rid the land
of them.     Horse  nettle  and  buffalo  bur
aic two species of weeds rapidly scattering over our land.    They are aggravating
weeds, and soon take the place if not prevented   from  seeding.    As  they  are  an-
caii  be killed out by treating them with,
Crimson clover or winter oats will often
choke them out.    The number of weeds
is too large to specialize.    Such weeds as
dandelion,     plantains,    certain    grasses,
chicory,   hawk weed,   and   even   ragweed,
can e killed  out by treating them  with,
say, about 8 gallons of crude carbolic acid
mixture to each square rod.    The mixture
is,    one pint    of    carbolic acid to    four
of water.    Tests for killing small weeds,
auch as wild  mustard,  penny cress, etc.,
in wheat, with a ten per cent solution of
copper  sulphate,  have  been  made.     The
weeds were all killed out by it, and the
wheat not only left uninjured but greatly
benefited,  yielding a  better crop  for the
spraying.    Except the corn cockle, I have
omitted naming plants or weeds decidedly
poisonous.        Of   all   weeds,   the   farmer
should  look  after  the corn cockle.    That
many   a  strange  case  of  sickness   in  the
family is due to its presence in the flour,
is   sun*.       Borne   of  the   poisonous   plants
are:     False    hellebore,    wild     larkspurs,
laurel;   stagiilmsli.     branch     ivy,    bitter-
swii t, sneezewort and jimpson.        I. S.
Premiums of $1, 75 cents and 50 cents
are given for the first, second and third
best articles for the Experience Department each week. Manuscript should be
sent direct to the Indiana Farmer Company and should reach us one week before
date of publication.
Topics for discussion in future numbers
of the Farmer are as follows:
X.i. 328, June 21.—What is the value of
the honey bee to the farmer? Give experience in* the production and sale of
honey.
No. 329, June 28.—Tell how to grow
raspberries and blackberries. Are they
profitable market crops?
Matt Utettrs.
Mrs. Melvlna Owens, 97 years old, the oldest
woman  in  Blackford county.  Is dead.
O. H. Beeson, of Milton, has shipped 3,000
head of live stock from there in the last year.
Alfred Hirt, a wealthy stave manufacturer of
Grt-.ii. ustle, is on his way to Europe, It being
his 83d trip. lie made the flrst trip CO yea s
ago in a sailing vessel, and it took 53 day's time.
Em niuiiaif.u-tures staves for German and French
brewers   and   wine   makers.
Charles Phillipey, a farmer, 3 miles east of
Petersburg killed 2 rattlesnakes near his barn,
1 having 13 rattles and a button, measuring 5
feet and 1 inch. The other had 10 rattles and a
button and measured 4 feet In length. The reptiles showed fight when they were attacked by
the   farmer.
Wm. Chapman, Kokomo, an old soldier, lost his
voice in the civil war. He has only been able
to utter shrill, soprano notes, but has suddenly
regained his speech, and now has a deep bass
voice, Chapman chocked while taking a drink.
lie was taken to the office of a physician, and
after treatment, coughed up a substance as hard
as iron.    Tbe case has baffled the physicians.
In addition to the locusts that have invaded
almost every portion of Wayne county, farmers
living In Dalton township are contending with
millions of small grasshoppers. Fields of clover
are literally covered with them. Farmers say
that grasshoppers in such numbers thus early
in the summer were before unknown to this
locality.
A valuable horse, owned by Edmund Norton, of
Edinburg, committed suicide by drowning. A
veterinary surgeon was called to see the horse
which was 111, and as It grew steadily worse the
surgeon was called a second time. As he approached the animal to administer medicine, the
horse broke loose from where it was tied and
ran to the river nearby and jumped in, deliberately holding Its head under water until It was
drowned.
While hunting on the lst.Walter Irwin, discovered a large nest in the top of a tall tree,
east of Brightwood, and shot at It. He wandered, away, without noticing the result of his shot.
He returned to the woods with his gun and
found a your.g eagle badly wounded, on the ground
under the tree In which the nest Is located. .No
one In the neighborhood of the woods has seen
ihe mother bird. The little one will probably
die.    It Is ahout the size of a full-grown chicken.