less, the occasional plants which survive spraying should be prevented 

 from seeding by digging them out or by applying gasoline, kerosene, 

 or dry iron sulfate to their crowns. The lawns should be mowed 

 frequently, watered in dry weather, well fertilized, and bare spots 

 reseeded. Whenever the dandelions reappear in considerable num- 

 bers it will be necessary to again resort to spraying. 



CUTTING DANDELIONS. 



Cutting off dandelions below the crown with a knife or spud is not 

 only laborious but ineffective unless practically the entire root is 

 removed or the foliage completely removed several times during the 

 season, so that the plant has no opportunity to store up reserve food 

 in the root. Shallow digging, unless done frequently, is worse than 

 no digging because the root, when cut off, sends up from one to several 

 new plants and the final result is a more profuse growth of dandelions. 

 Deep digging, whereby practically the entire root is removed with a 

 spud, stiff-bladed knife, asparagus knife, chisel, or other special tool, 

 is recommended as a means of removing the few plants which sur- 

 vive spraying. 



SPRAYING LAWNS. 



Spraying with iron sulfate solution will usually prove effective 

 when carefully, persistently and intelligently done. 



NUMBER OF 'TREATMENTS AND TIME OF MAKING THEM. 



Our experiments indicate that at least three (or, usually, five) thoro 

 applications during a season are necessary to eradicate the dandelions 

 from the average lawn in this state. To be the most effective, the 

 spraying should be repeated as soon as the dandelion plant has re- 

 gained new foliage and just before it is full grown usually when the 

 leaves are three or four inches long. This forces the plants to use up 

 their reserve food stored in the roots, and eventually starves them. 

 On the Station lawns, which were exposed to dandelion seeds from 

 adjoining untreated lawns, it was found necessary to spray every 

 second or third year, and to supplement the spraying with other con- 

 trol measures. 



The time of application appears to be important. In our tests, the 

 best results were secured when the first application was made in 

 early spring after the central blossom buds were formed, but before 



