DESCRIPTIVE MANUAL 337 



the proper time. Mr. Bishop stated that before plowing this ground 

 after removing the oats the surface was covered with burs just 

 about as thick as they could grow. After harvesting the first crop of 

 winter wheat the soil was again plowed and seeded for the second 

 time to winter wheat. After this it was followed by corn and 

 other crops, with the result that even in the corn crop a very short 

 time spent in pulling burs freed the field entirely of these pests. ' ' 



Mr. Albert Wiltz says in Wallaces' Farmer : "When I moved to 

 this farm nine years ago the land was very badly infested with 

 cockleburs, and farmers told me that each bur had two seeds, one 

 growing one year and the other one the next year. I left a patch 

 of ground where the cockleburs were lying thick without a crop, 

 plowed in June once, and again in August. That settled the cockle- 

 burs. That year was a good corn year, with plenty of moisture. 

 Now, would not that way be the cheapest way to deal with them — 

 to put three years, yes, sometimes ten years ' fighting into one year ? 

 That is, take a field one year to fight cocklburs, and finish it ; next 

 year take another, and so on, if the farmer is -a renter on a long 

 term lease or owns the land." 



Wallaces' Farmer states concerning the extermination of cockle- 

 bur : " If it is desirable to put some of this kind of land in alfalfa, 

 we would not put it in com, but disk it every week or two during 

 the summer to sprout the burs, and then kill them by subsequent 

 disking, and keep on that way all summer, missing the crop for the 

 first year. Then in the fall, when the ground has sufficient mois- 

 ture, say in August or in the first part of September, seed it to al- 

 falfa alone, we would not sow .alfalfa in the spring on that kind of 

 land; but by continuous summer cultivation it can be gotten in 

 shape to grow alfalfa and thus avoid not only cockleburs but also 

 erabgrass, another great foe to alfalfa in that part of the country. 



' ' Speaking now on the subject of cockleburs generally. Where the 

 land is not so badly infested with them as this farm seems to be, 

 and it is not desirable to grow spring grains and seed to clover, we 

 would make the stand of grain rather thin, put in a good seeding 

 of clover, put the clover deep enough to insure germination, use as 

 early a variety of grain as possible, get it off the land as soon as 

 possible, and then keep the cockleburs mowed down by clipping the 

 clover until a good stand is secured." 



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