BURNING 15 



land or in places that include combinations of marshland and 

 water. So-called marsh buggies with their enormous, expensive 

 tires are only a partial answer to the need. If in the future a prac- 

 tical land-water vehicle of the "rollagon," "rhino," "weasel," or 

 marsh-buggy type comes into commercial production, there may 

 then be more extensive use of mechanical equipment for weed 

 control as well as for other marsh-development programs. 



Heavy machinery of the bulldozer, disk, and harrow type is 

 being used on many Federal and State waterfowl refuges to pro- 

 duce planted food crops for the birds in marshy or swampy areas. 

 This appears to be one of the most practical ways of combating 

 persistent marsh weeds such as are particularly prevalent in the 

 Southeast. 



Cutting of weeds with hay mowers and rotary mowers is feas- 

 ible on marshes that are not too wet. However, such mowing 

 usually needs to be timed at particular stages of growth if control 

 of the species is to be more lasting than the mowing of grass in a 

 lawn. Generally, crushing by special rollers or by tractors with 

 wide cleats is more likely to be effective in controlling marsh plants 

 than is cutting. Crushers devised and used by mosquito-extermi- 

 nation organizations in certain New Jersey counties have been 

 operated successfully for marsh management for many years. 



BURNING 



By itself, fire is generally an ineffective control for marsh weeds. 

 Indeed, it sometimes favors undesirable species by removing ex- 

 cessive shading or other handicaps contributed by their own dead 

 stalks. However, fire can be an important adjunct to other means 

 of control, particularly in herbicidal treatment of dense growths 

 such as needlerush and phragmites. Preliminary burning in late 

 winter or spring enables more efficient use of herbicides by avoid- 

 ing wasting of the spray on dead stems. Burning several months 

 after treatment can also be beneficial by helping to eliminate weeds 

 that survive spraying and by opening up growing space for desir- 

 able plants. Wilson 1 found that burning of needlerush in winter 

 in North Carolina, following an apparently unsuccessful herbicidal 

 treatment earlier in the year, resulted in complete kill of the plants. 

 Myers^ working with the same species in Florida not only demon- 

 strated the value of preliminary burning to increased efficiency of 

 control by mowing or by herbicides but also demonstrated that 



' See references under Needlerush on page 34. 



