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By JOHN S. BAILEY* 



KEEPING THE WEEDS out of 

 a strawberry bed by hand-hoe- 

 ing is a time-consuming and costly 

 job. This is especially true after the 

 runner plants have started to root. 

 At this time the space that can be 

 weeded with the cultivator narrows, 

 and the part that must be hoed by 

 hand increases. On many farms 

 where strawberries are grown, there 

 is not enough time to keep the straw- 

 berries free of weeds. What is needed 

 is something that will greatly reduce 

 the amount of hand-weeding. The 

 use of herbicidal chemicals offers 

 considerable hope of accomplishing 

 this. 



One of the most efTective of the 

 new materials for general weed con- 

 trol in strawberries was first released 

 to research workers as C. H. No. 1 

 and placed on the market as Crag 

 Herbicide No. 1 or C. H. No. 1. 

 This chemical, with the formidable 

 name of sodium 2,4-dichlorophenoxy 

 ethyl sulfate, is related to 2,4-D; 

 however, unlike its toxic relative, 

 it does not cause the leaves and 

 stems of plants to curl and twist. 



* Associate Research Professor, Pomology, The 



Cranberry '^^'f- - 



Large Weeds Not Affected 



Unlike 2,4-D, C. H. No. 1 is not 

 absorbed by the tops of the plants 

 and has little efTect on plants until 

 it comes in contact with the soil 

 where it is changed into an active 

 form by the soil microorganisms. 

 When this active form is present 

 in the soil, it can be absorbed by 

 the rootlets of germinating weed 

 seeds and kill them. After the weeds 

 have reached a height of one-quarter 

 of an inch, C. H. No. 1 is no longer 

 effective. Inasmuch as C. H. No. 1 

 affects only germinating seeds or 

 very small weeds, the field should 

 be thoroughly cultivated and hoed 

 before this weed killer is applied 

 to assure the destruction of any 

 large weeds. The application should 

 be made far enough in advance of 

 weed seed germination so that the 

 C. H. No. 1 will be in its active 

 form ready to go to work as soon 

 as the weed seeds germinate. C. H. 

 No. 1 acts as a pre-emergence weed 

 killer on both broad-leaved weeds 

 and grasses. 



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This strawberry patch overrun 

 with weeds has not been treat- 

 ed with a herbicide. 



