22 THE TXDIAXA WEED BOOK. 



can be easily controlled by cultivation in early spring. The fall 

 plowing should not be done until the land has been burned over, 

 for weeds with ripened seeds should never be plowed under. Fall 

 plowing is also one of the best remedies for destroying wire-worms, 

 cut-worms, white grubs and many other larval forms of "noxious in- 

 sects. 



6. Do away with many fencfs. — The removal of permanent 

 fences from between fields and the cultivation of the ground thus 

 redeemed will aid much in clearing the farm of weeds. Unless a 

 large amount of stock is kept on a farm but few inside fences are 

 really necessary. In many instances a temporary fence of wire 

 which can be shifted from place to place can be used to control 

 the stock. There is no more prolific breeding place for many 

 noxious weeds than along the fence-rows of cultivated fields. Es- 

 pecially is this true of the old Virginia rail fences. Many a plant 

 destined to become a scourge to the farmer ripens its first seeds 

 within the projecting and protecting angles of these old fences. 

 There, safe from the plow and the hoe, the future weed succeeds 

 in its struggle with its associates, ripens its seeds by scores or 

 thousands and sends them forth, borne by the winds of heaven or 

 the wings of birds to cultivated and fallow fields. Thousands of 

 acres of the richest land in the State are rendered useless by un- 

 necessary fence-rows. Redeem this land and do away with the 

 seed beds of many weeds. 



7. Do not attempt too much. — To use a slang expression, the. 

 average Indiana farmer, each spring, "bites off more than he can 

 chew." He attempts, single-handed, to tend 60 or 80 acres of corn 

 and raises more weeds than corn-stalks, whereas if he had at- 

 tempted 30 or at most 40 acres his yield would have been more and 

 of better quality. The tendency everywhere in the future will be 

 fewer acres, bigger crops. Intensive farming of small tracts is the 

 one principal solution of the great question : How shall the earth 

 feed its people? Therefore break up no more acres each year than 

 you can keep clean, and keep at keeping it clean. 



8. Keep the farm machinery clean. — A threshing machine 

 taken from one farm or one locality to another should be thoroughly 

 cleaned before being set to work. They carry many weed seeds 

 which are scattered along roadsides and over the fields. They 

 should also at first be run empty for a few minutes and the seeds 

 that are caught in the grain box destroyed. Grain sacks from 

 oilier farms should be shaken over some receptacle before using. 



