39 



different in details for the different weeds ; but in general it may be 

 said that, if the soil is kept sweet by sufficient use of lime, and well 

 enriched, the conditions will be made so favorable for the growth of the 

 better grasses and the clovers that the weeds will have relatively little 

 chance. The grasses and the clovers, in the struggle for existence 

 which is always going on in the meadows, will prove victorious. There 

 are localities, however, where certain weeds have gained such a foot- 

 hold that special measures of eradicating them are called for. There 

 is one general measure which may be expected to prove helpful in the 

 case of almost any of them, which must be first considered. This is 

 reseeding. 



Reseeding Mowings. 



The question is often asked, when mowings become highly infested 

 with different weeds, how these weeds can be best subdued or eradi- 

 cated. Reseeding in almost all such instances, if carried out under the 

 right conditions, is likely to prove helpful The question will at once 

 arise whether it is better to plow and cultivate for one or more years 

 and then reseed, or to plow or otherwise break up the ground and im- 

 mediately reseed. Experience in reseeding mowings in a field having 

 a rather strong, retentive soil, which had become much infested with 

 white daisy, buttercups, ragged robin and a few other species, convinced 

 me that the best results are likely to be obtained by breaking up the 

 land in midsummer, harrowing it repeatedly and most thoroughly until 

 early in August, — so frequently and so thoroughly as to keep the sur- 

 face absolutely free from vegetation, — then enriching liberally and re- 

 seeding, sowing seed in very liberal amounts. The seeds of most 

 weeds, if buried in the ground too deep for immediate germination, 

 retain vitality almost indefinitely, and the number of seeds which has 

 been so buried in many of our soils is very great. Cultivation must be 

 very long continued in order to permit the destruction of all such seeds. 

 Every time we plow we are likely to bring a fresh lot of seeds near 

 enough to the surface to enable them to vegetate. Cultivation must 

 therefore be persisted in for a good manj^ 3-ears, or it will prove rela- 

 tively unimportant in its influence on the number of weeds which will 

 start when at length the field is seeded. Conditions are most unfavor- 

 able for the germination and establishment of weeds in mowings if they 

 be seeded early in August, after thorough preparation of the soil. 

 Moreover, during the interval between plowing, which should take 

 l)lace early in July, and seeding, early in August, most of the weed 

 seeds which lie near enough to the surface to germinate will have 

 started, and the repeated harrowings above advised will have resulted 

 in the destruction of the young plants as they start. When, after this 

 treatment and after the thorough enrichment advised above, grass and 

 clover seeds are sown, they make a quick and vigorous start, and the 

 weeds gain but little foothold. 



On the grounds of the Experiment Station mowings reseeded in this 

 way are far clearer from weeds to-day than other mowings which were 

 broken up and cultivated for a couple of years and then reseeded. It 

 would, of course, be possible to give fields which have ..been cultivated 

 such treatment as has been recommended in the case of mowings 

 broken and reseeded without cultivation ; but this would involve a 

 greater loss of time, and would not seem to have any especial advan- 

 tage. In the case of weeds starting from perennial roots only, such, 

 for example, as witch grass, does a period of cultivation appear to be 

 essential. 



Use Care in purchasing Grass Seeds. 



The seeds of several of the most troublesome of the weeds in our 

 mowings are commonly found in commercial samples of grass and 

 clover seeds, and a great deal of care should be used in the purchase of 



