128 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



realization of what it means to root it out. After all, 

 quack grass is one of the best of pasture grasses. If one 

 cared only for pasturing a field he need not desire a bet- 

 ter grass. It is like bluegrass in its habit of growth, only 

 the running underground stems or rootstocks are long- 

 er, and penetrate deeper. One can turn up a sod of blue- 

 grass and have every rootstock so that the whole mass 

 is easily killed. This is not so easy with quack grass, as 

 it roots too deeply for that. It is a good pasture grass 

 for that very reason. It grows from i' to 3' high and 

 makes a dense mass of leaves and stems. The forage is 

 sweet and good. It makes a lot of hay on good soil, but 

 one should cut it before any seed stems form, else it will 

 seed further areas by the seeds getting in the manure. 



Quack grass is a pest in Europe. In England it gets 

 into the alfalfa meadow and destroys it in a few years. 

 It is harder there to destroy than here, because there the 

 earth seldom becomes dry enough to kill roots not actu- 

 ally raked out into the air. In Iowa it has been said that 

 the value of a farm infested with quack grass was cut in 

 two. In Minnesota it is very troublesome. I once at- 

 tended a number of farmers' institutes in Minnesota and 

 it was amusing to observe that in our question box at 

 every point were several questions alike, "How can I kill 

 quack grass ?" 



On rich black soil if quack is left to thicken for a few 

 years it is all but impossible to plow through a sod of it. 

 It is impossible to cultivate through it with ordinary cul- 

 tivators ; they will not pass through the tough sod. It is 

 well, therefore, to take it in time. It came to Woodland 



