CHAPTER VIII 

 ^ COMMON WEEDS AND THEIR ERADICATION 



WEEDS 



A Weed is any plant out of place. For example, rye 

 growing in a wheat field or any grain plant growing in a 

 corn field is as much a weed as is pigeon grass. But we 

 commonly think of weeds as undesirable plants that are 

 found in our fields, meadows and pastures, such as mustard, 

 thistle, etc. 



Weeds are harmful in many ways. As we have learned 

 in the previous lesson, they use moisture and plant food 

 that are needed by the useful crops. They shade or crowd 

 out other plants. They greatly increase the cost of grow- 

 ing crops. They increase the cost of harvesting, by requir- 

 ing more twine and by making more bulk to handle. They 

 decrease the quahty of grain and increase materially the 

 cost of marketing. 



There is no accurate way of estimating the loss caused 

 by weeds, but it is very great. Weeds cost many times 

 as much as all the schools in the country. 



One of the great problems of farming is the control of 

 weeds, and no farmer can make much of a success of his 

 business until he learns how to fight weeds effectively. 



Weeds get into fields in a great many different ways. 

 Some weed seeds remain in the soil for several years, and 

 still retain sufficient vitality to grow when given favorable 

 opportunity. Weed seeds are carried into fields by water, 

 by wind, by birds, by animals, by machinery, or some- 

 times in the seed grain or in the grass seed. 



There are no very easy ways of controlHng weeds, but 

 the first essential of success is to know the common weeds 

 and their habits. Then one may discover the measures 

 necessary for their eradication. 



There are not a great many different weeds that are 

 very troublesome, and it is not difficult to become so famil- 



