TREATMENT FOR SPECIAL WEEDS III 



field is cultivated with corn the next year, another crop 

 of seedings will come on. How long the seeds will 

 retain their vitality has not been definitely determined. 

 The best method of combating the cocklebur is the ro- 

 tation of crops and clean culture. When a field is in 

 corn, the field should be thoroughly cultivated and none 

 of the plants allowed to mature seed. If they cannot be 

 caught by the cultivator, it may pay to kill the remaining 

 plants with a hoe, or to pull them by hand. The corn 

 should be followed with winter rye and then oats, using 

 the oats as a nurse crop for clover and timothy. Leave 

 the field in meadow for at least two years and then if 

 possible turn it into pasture. This certainly eradicates 

 the cocklebur, ragweed and many other annual weeds. 



Foxtail. It is not generally recognized, but it is prob- 

 ably true, that more money is spent in the extermination 

 of foxtails than of any other class of weeds we have in 

 the state of Iowa, yet they are all easily destroyed. One 

 of the best and most effective methods of destroying the 

 foxtail is by plowing the small grain field as soon as the 

 grain is removed. If this is not done a large amount of 

 seed is produced. After this plowing in the fall the field 

 should be disked and harrowed in the spring and then 

 planted to corn. The corn should be cultivated as fre- 

 quently as possible, at least four or five times. This 

 method should prove effective for the destruction of fox- 

 tail and pigeon grass. 



Squirrel-tail or Wild Barley. Squirrel-tail or wild 

 barley is a most pernicious weed along road sides and in 

 pastures and meadows; pernicious because it not only 

 prevents the growth of the better grasses, but it is in- 

 jurious to live stock. As this weed is most common in 

 the pasture, the best way to treat it is to mow the pasture 

 before the grass has matured its seed. Since this weed 

 is an annual, or winter annual, this would effectively dis- 

 pose of the plant were it not for the fact that the seed is 



