TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART^X 569 



INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF BINDWEED. 



For convenience in considering the injury caused by bindweed, the 

 various types of farming may be divided into four general groups: 

 (1) The growing of cultivated crops, which includes truck, small fruits, 

 and commercial seeds; (2) small-grain growing; (3) orcharding and vine- 

 yarding; and (4) hay growing. 



(1) It is in the first group that the wild morning-glory, or bind- 

 weed, gives the most trouble. It not only contends with the crops 

 mentioned for the moisture and fertility of the soil, but climbs and 

 twines around them, dragging them to the ground. Unless thorough and 

 frequent cultivation is given from the first, the bindweed will get such 

 a start that subsequent tillage will drag down much of the top growth 

 of the crop. Some crops will grow better than others in a bindweed 

 field. Corn, for instance, if it secures a good start, will make a fairly 

 good growth in spite of the weed. But such low-growing crops as potatoes, 

 strawberries and onions are overpowered and smothered unless most per- 

 sistent cultivation and expensive hand hoeing are pursued. 



It is impossihle to eradicate this weed in cultivated crops with the im- 

 plements commonly used, as many of the stems slip through the teeth or 

 shovels without being much disturbed. In fact, anything short of good 

 cultivation is a benefit to the bindweed, since insufficient cultivation 

 merely breaks it up and distributes it over the field. After the crop is 

 laid by, the weed grows undisturbed and often "becomes a dense mat of 

 vines on land that had been given fairly good cultivation earlier in the 

 season. In many cases this weed has caused a discontinuance of this type 

 of farming. 



(2) As a rule, bindweed does not do much damage to small grain. 

 There are, however, regions especially favorable to the growth of this 

 weed where the crops are greatly injured. Besides robbing the soil of 

 moisture, this weed binds and drags down the tops; it also makes harvest- 

 ing difficult by clogging the knife of the binder. 



The time of sowing has much to do with the amount of growth made 

 by the weed. If grain is sown in the fall or early spring it will have 

 made a fair growth before the wild morning-glory gets under way. The 

 height of the stand is also a factor, as a tall growth will produce a 

 greater shading effect than a short one. In western Kansas, where a low- 

 stemmed type of wheat is grown, the bindweed has worked in badly, 

 there being entire quarter sections which are thickly set with it. In those 

 localities, however, where small grain occurs in a short rotation with well- 

 cultivated corn and clover the weed does not do much damage to the 

 grain. 



(3) In orchard and vineyard lands, and this applies especially to 

 those of the West, the wild morning-glory is of still less consequence. 

 The use of the weed cutter or weed knife in orchard cultivation, as is 

 the common practice in California, has greatly lessened the weed problem. 

 Furthermore, the shading effect of the trees does much to keep the weed 

 under control. 



