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WEEDS IN WASTE PLACES.
temporary fence may be
built around it. Let them keep it rooted
up. If tbis  is  done  during   the  entire
season  not  many  will  be  found  tbe  next
year,   and the few that make their appear-
least one season, then sow tiinotby seed
quite thick. If then it is mowed every
year there will be but little difficulty about
keeping it clean. Consider the mowing a
necessary part of the farm work, and do
Keep the Ground Covered.
1st Prenium.—Waste places are very often inhabitated by weeds, and if they are
to be kept clean a little knowledge of the
weeds that infest them will be very important. Fence corners and roadsides
furnish the right conditions for weeds that
grow for more than one season, as dock,
burdock, buckhorn and white sweet clover.
If the fence corners and roadsides are in
bluegrass and white clover, as they will be
if left undisturbed for a couple of years, il
will be difficult for any new weeds to come
in. So if the old weeds are cut out few
new ones can get started. Cutting these
weeds above the ground does not hurt
tnem very much. To kill them they
must be cut below the crown, which wil!
usually mean cutting about an inch umler
ground. The mattock will serve this
purpose, except tbat it is heavy. A better tool is the spud, which may be a chisel,
with a handle some four to five feet long
and with a cutting blade two inches wide.
It will be surprising how much ground
can be freed from weeds in a day by using
the spud. In fact one should never walk
nbout over the farm without a spud.
When the fence corners, roadsides and
bines have been freed from weeds it wi
require very little work to keep them
clean. What has been said above w
apply to waste places, where the soil is in
fairly good condition, but if the soil is
poor, dock, sorrel and mullen will likely be
the predominating weeds. To get rid of
the dock and the mullens proceed as above
with the spud, or plow it up and put into
some cultivated crop. The sorrel will
grow because the soil is not rich enough tn
support the grasses and clovers that would
otherwise occupy the ground. An application of stable manure will supply the
food that the grasses and clovers need and
the , sorrel will be crowded out. Lime
would also be helpful.
In fighting weeds keep in mind that if
the ground is occupied by strong, vigorous
clover, timothy or blue grass, the weeds
will have a bard time getting started, and
that the few that do get started can easily be killed if taken in time. When man
does not keep his fields covered with
strong, vigorous plants, nature puts in the
weeds so as to have the ground covered.
I >o not make it necessary for nature to assist you in keeping the ground covered.
, Reader.
To   Kill Canada  Thistle.
2d Premium.—The best time to eradicate noxious weeds is before they have
grown. Where they are looked after
i very year, and the few that may be found
Me cut out, it is not difficult to hold the
growth. Some kinds of weeds spring up
and grow luxuriantly in a short time, but
the most noxious weeds do not usually get
a great start In one season; and with the
wire fences it. Is not so difficult to keep the
ftnee rows clean as with the old crooked
rail fence. The most troublesome weeds
we have to deal with in this locality are
the Canada thistle, burdock, sour dock and
wild lettuce. The Canada thistle is a
Persistent grower, and in some instances
baffles all attempts to eradicate it. The
hest method to get rid of it that I know of
11 to plow the ground deep and pick up all
the roots, then confine the hogs to the spot.
Barn and Feed I.ot on Mr. Roupp'a Farm.
auce can be destroyed by putting salt on
them. Don't let them bloom. In dealing with dock my method is to keep persistently after it, with a mattock or
heavy hoe. It is usually found in sod
fields, yards or fence corners—on ground
tbat has not been cultivated. Usually I
do not think it a good idea to permit a
field to stay in sod so long. I prefer to
grow more clover for pasture, and this
requires reseeding after the second year,
If, however, dock has gotten a good foothold, aud to plow the ground is not desirable, cut the roots off deep in the
ground and keep after it when it reappears. Keep the weeds cut down, and
you will be surprised at the way the grass
will take possesion. In this way I bave
seen a waste place converted into a fine
lawn.
The fence rows should be mowed twice
during the season if they are Inclined to be
foul, and at least once under any circumstances. If the fence is an old one and
the fence row is infested with noxious
weeds, about the best plan is to remove
the fence and cultivate the ground for at
not permit other work to prevent its being
done. Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth two pounds of cure, if
I may be permitted to revise the old
adage.
Keep the roadway mowed. Sometimes
a farmer is judged by the appearance of
the road along his farm. I know of roads
where no weeds are permitted to grow, and
the adjacent farms are owned by some of
the best farmers in the community.
H.
Don't   Let the Seeds Ripen.
3d Premium.—My way of dealing with
noxious weeds is not to let them stand long
enough to get ripe. Perennial weeds require a little different method from weeda
which grow from seed only, but in either
case do not let them get so ripe that the
seed will grow. If you have not already
done so, clean your roadside of all rubbish, brush, briers and stone. Then it
is an easy matter to run a mower over it
and keep it so. One time mowing in a
season is not sufficient. The oftener it is
mowed the thicker the grass, and conse
quently the less room for noxious weeds.
Tbere is often a very wet time, when it is
too wet to do other work. This is a fine
time to get after those perennial weeds.
Mowing is not very effectual for them, but
they can be kept in check, and in a short
time killed out entirely, by cutting with :t
sharp hoe, about one inch under surface.
If we attend to this and keep our roadside
mowed, which makes the grass grow
thicker, then in early spring or fall sow a
little grass seed if needed, we wlil soon
have a nice roadside where there will be
no room for noxious weeds.
Again  1   will  say do  not allow noxious
weeds  to  get  ripe. One  noxious  weed
will furnish sufficient seed to inoculate a
large pint of grouud and cause plenty of
trouble to get rid of. Tbis happens wheu
we are a little careless and do not deal
with  thein as wc shoulil.
If any waste place is not in condition to
plow, if too wet or a rough hillside, get it
in grass. If it is low and a little too wet
to plow, mow the weeds in July or August, as best suited and when dry enough,
and before weed seed is ripe. Let lie until dry and then burn. Then harrow
completely and sow redtop and bluegrass,
and it will soon be growing something
more profitable than weeds.
Subscriber.
No. 642, June 27.—If one cow produces
6 pounds and another one 12 pounds of
butter per week, other things being equal,
how much more is the second cow worth
:.han  the first?
No. 643, July 4.—What is the true
meaning of Independence Day? How
should it be celebrated?
Premiums of $1.00, 75 cents and 50
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week before date of publication. Addresa
Indiana Farmer Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
FERTILIZER INDUSTRY.
Over 2,000,000 tons of commercial fertilizer are used annually in the United
States, valued at more than $40,000,000.
This great industry as well as an enormous foreign consumption has resulted al-
mostly entirely from scientific experiments
made between 1845 and 1873 in growing
crops in water and sand and determining
the exact requirements of plants for mineral nutrients. Prior to these experiments various kinds of fertilizers had been
used but without much knowledge as to
their   constituency. Wood   ashes,   for
instance, had long been employed with
great success but without the understanding that this success depended upon their
large potash content. They were the
principal source of potash until the German potash mines were opened up in I860.
In 1840 the first shipload of Peruvian
guano, was sent to England to be applied
as a land fertilizer. This was used for
its ammonia. The southern rock phos-
Florida and Tennessee phosphate mines
phate mines were opened in 1867, the
later. The trade in nitrate of soda began about 1840.
Now there are dozens of sources of commercial fertilizer which were never dreamed of a generation ago. Contemporaneous with the growth of the fertilizer industry has been the experimentation with
the various leguminous crops which after
all are the greatest of all fertilizer gatherers, since they can capture untold valuea
in free nitrogen from the unlimited atmospheric supply of this most costly of fertilizer.