WEEDS AND THEIR ERADICATION 



225 



to thorough cultivation. The control is the same as recommended for 

 buckhorn. 



In lawns the most practical method of eradicating it is by hand 

 digging. If the plant is cut off several inches below the ground during 

 dry weather, it will give no more trouble. 



Carbolic acid may be used in the same manner as recommended for 

 buckhorn, where digging roughens the lawn. 



Pigweed. — Pigweed is an annual and is commonly found growing in 

 cultivated fields and waste places. While the weed itself is not hard to 

 eradicate, yet it produces abundantly 

 seeds which have long vitality. The seed 

 has been known to survive in the ground 

 for more than twenty years. 



The pigweed has a long, fleshy, red 

 taproot. The main stem is erect, stout, 

 woody and slightly branched. The stem 

 and branches are covered with stiff, short 

 hairs. 



Usually the plant will grow from one 

 to four feet tall, but under more favorable 

 conditions it will often reach six feet. 



The leaves are long and ovate in 

 shape, measuring from three to six inches 

 in length. The small greenish flowers 

 are crowded into thick, compact heads 

 which are borne at the ends of the 

 branches or in the axils of the leaves. 

 The pigweed flowers from July to Sep- 

 tember and produces enormous quantities 

 of small, shiny seeds. The seed is a jet Pigweed {Amaranthus retroflexim). 1 

 black color, oval and flat in shape. It C— Root, 



propagates by seeds only. 



Control. — Pigweed seed is commonly found in commercial seeds of 

 different kinds. The first step in its eradication is to guard against buying 

 seed containing this weed. 



. Thorough cultivation will suppress the weed. In case cultivation 

 cannot be continued late into the summer the weed should be pulled or cut 

 out with a hoe before going to seed. Plants which are pulled or cut while 

 blooming should be destroyed, as they frequently mature seed after cut. 



Pigweed may be destroyed in small grain crops by the use of the weeder 

 or the spike-tooth harrow. By going over the grain field when the crop is 

 but a few inches tall the small seedlings may be dug out without injuring 

 the grain. If the weed makes its appearance later on in the growth of a 

 small grain crop, it may be killed with an iron or copper sulphate spray. 



1 Courtesy of The Pennsylvania Farmer. 



