FARMERS' BULLETIN 687. 



METHODS ALREADY IN USE. 



The methods that have been adopted for eradicating ferns in the 

 Eastern States arc cutting or mowing, salting live stock, and culti- 



vation. 



CUTTING OR MOWING. 



In 1557 Thomas Tusser wrote his "Five Hundred Pointes of Good 

 Husbandrie," in which he said: 



In June and in August, as well doth appeere, 

 Is best to mowo Brakes of all times of the Yeere. 



In 1911 a representative of the 

 United States Department of Agri- 

 culture found a farmer in Delaware 

 County, N. Y., who was following 

 the identical method advised by 

 Tusser and had greatly reduced the 

 number of ferns in his pastures. 

 (See fig. 5.) This farmer, Mr. W. J. 

 Thomson, has found that attacking 

 them twice a year greatly reduces 

 the number of ferns, and that if the 

 method is followed for two years 

 in succession most of them dis- 

 appear. 



It is best to make the cuttings 

 just previous to the time when the 

 ferns mature their spores. This 

 not only prevents propagation by 

 means of spores but greatly weak- 

 ens the rootstocks, which are at 

 their most susceptible stage just 

 previous to sporing. As the spores 

 mature during the latter part of 

 June in Delaware County, the 

 proper time to make the first cut- 

 ting in that region is about the 

 middle of that month. New leaves spring up immediately, so that 

 one more cutting must be made* that season to prevent sporing. This 

 second cutting should be made about the middle of August. It is 

 highly important to observe the precaution that if either of the cut- 

 tings is put off until after the spores mature, the plants should not 

 be disturbed during the remainder of that season, since mowing the 

 ferns after the spores ripen seems to scatter the spores a great deal 

 more than when the plants remain undisturbed. 



The work of cutting must usually be done by hand (fig. 6), as the 

 land is generally too rough to admit of the use of a mower. In a 



FIG. 3. The brake. 



