I 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



FARMERS' 

 BULLETIN 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 687 SEPTEMBER 18, 1915 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief. 



ERADICATION OF FERNS FROM PASTURE LANDS 

 IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



By H. R. Cox, 



Agriculturist, Office of Farm Management. 



KINDS OF FERNS THAT ARE WEEDS AND AREAS INFESTED. 1 



There are nearly 7,500 recognized species of ferns in the world, of 

 which number over 200 are known to be native to the United States. 

 A few species have become weed pests in this country, and it is to a 

 discussion of the control of these weedy ferns that this bulletin is 

 devoted. 



The parts of the United States in which ferns are bad weeds are, 

 principally, (1) the hill country of the Northeastern States and the 

 higher portions of the Appalachian Mountain region as far south as 

 Georgia, and (2) the Pacific coast country west of the Cascade 

 Mountains. In the former region, which is the area covered by this 

 bulletin, the principal weedy ferns are the hay-scented fern (Denn- 

 8taltia punctilobula) and the brake (Pteris aquilina, formerly known 

 as Pteridium aquilinum). Both kinds are sometimes called brakes, 

 although tliis term is properly applied only to tho latter species. In 

 Ihe Pacific coast section the brake is the most common weedy fern. 



Several other species in the eastern region are sometimes annoying, 

 but they occur largely in low and moist places and do not give much 

 trouble on good pasture land. They are principally the cinnamon 

 fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), the marsh fern (Orihopteris thelypteris), 

 and the sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis). 



i The writer is indebted to Mr. J. S. Cotton, of the Office of Farm Management, for valuable suggestions 

 in making the experiments described in this bulletin. 



N ( > IF.. This bulletin will be of interest to farmers in the hill country of the Northeastern States and the 

 higher poriions of I lie. Appalachian Mountain region farther south. 

 2219 Bull. 68715 



487<y 



