ERADICATING JOHNSON GRASS 65 



yet found for our southern states. To tell of Johnson 

 grass and not tell how to get rid of it would be to 

 incur the dislike of most of my southern readers. First 

 let me advise careful buying of field seeds, especially of 

 alfalfa seed, which is sometimes infested with seed of 

 this grass. Next consider its habit of growth. It is a 

 plant of the tropics; it can not endure freezing; any 

 roots turned up in the fall so that they freeze will be 

 destroyed. This alone will destroy Johnson grass in Ohio, 

 Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and the northern 

 ends of all the Gulf States. The fact is, farmers in 

 the South are not often provided with suitable plows 

 for combatting Johnson grass. The ordinary one-mule 

 plow only tickles and invigorates it. Spring-plowing 

 does not much hurt it. Each joint of the long, creeping 

 root-stocks-will grow if left in the ground. Hogs, by 

 the way, thrive on these succulent root-stocks. 



Prof. W. J. Spillman has made a careful study of 

 Johnson grass and its extermination and declares that 

 it is conquerable. He says : 



"The difficulty of dealing with this weed is greatly increased by 

 the implements used for tillage on many southern farms. To check 

 the grass effectively a good two-horse turning plow is absolutely 

 necessary, an implement not found on many small farms. In plowing 

 it is necessary to cut and turn over every inch of the land. By 

 doing this it is entirely possible to plow a Johnson grass meadow in 

 spring, harrow out the rootstocks and make a good cultivated 

 crop the same year; but it requires careful work, and a great deal 

 of it, to do so. The grass may be entirely eradicated in a single 

 season if the farmer can spare the land and afford the necessary 

 labor. The best way to do this is to plow the land with a turning- 

 plow in the fall, selecting a time when the soil is mellow. Harrow 

 out as many rootstocks as possible and remove them from the 



