(110) 



TEOUBLESOME PLANTS TO MEADOWS. 



There are several plants exceedingly troublesome to the 

 meadows in Tennessee. Among them is the white top {Eri- 

 geron PhUadephicum) or fleabane. This is a perennial, and 

 sometimes infests meadows to such an extent as to render 

 them worthless. Meadows troubled with them should be 

 mown several years in succession when the white top begins 

 to blossom. Broom grass {Andropogon sooparius) is also 

 very pestiferous, destroying meadows after four or five years 

 unless closely watched, and the broom grass cut up by the 

 roots every spring. The trumpet creeper {Bignonia radi- 

 cans) infests meadows in rich bottom lands, and when cut 

 off by the mower forms hard knots, which will arrest the 

 action of the sickle. This vine should be dug up "root and 

 branch." White clover and blue grass are both great ene- 

 mies to the meadow, and when they prevail to any extent it 

 is best to use the meadow as a pasture, and sow another 

 meadow somewhere else. 



A top dressing of superphosphate or of stable manure 

 every fall, after a crop of hay is taken off, will also do much 

 to keep down noxious weeds and grasses. The farmer should 

 always bear in mind that meadows require to be regularly 

 fed. It is too much to expect that they will grow heavy 

 crops of hay year after year without exhausting the ele- 

 ments in the soil which go to make hay. These elements 

 must be supplied. Eestitution must be made if the farmer 

 expects to have luxuriant and profitable meadows. The 

 best rule to adopt is, never to take off a crop of hay with- 

 out making a liberal application of manure. 



A WOED ABOUT MANURES. 



The people of the South have much to learn in regard to 

 the successful management of meadow lands. Many farm- 

 ers seem to think it possible to take large crops of hay from 

 the same land year after year without adding any fertilizers. 



