6 Department Circular 109, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



The subsequent cultivation of the corn should be thorough, special 

 care being exercised to remove plants of cocklebur which may grow 

 in the corn hills out of reach of the cultivator. Such stray plants 

 may be removed by hand or cut with a hoe. Extra care should be 

 taken to prevent cockleburs from maturing seeds after the corn is 

 laid by, since the weed usually forms seed until the first severe frost. 

 Two or three seasons may be required to effect complete control of the 

 weed, but persistence is sure of reward. 



In grainfields cocklebm^s do not grow very luxuriantly until after 

 the removal of the crop; the cockleburs should then be plowed under 

 before they mature seeds. . In the North early fall plowing before 

 the seed ripens is always good practice for controlling this weed. 



The weed may be destroyed by the use of any good shading crop, 

 such as buckwheat, soy beans, or cowpeas. Clover is particularly 

 useful in subduing cocklebur. Close grazing with sheep, especially 

 in grain stubble, is a very useful practice. In heavily infested areas 

 mowing and burning have been successfully practiced. Plants in 

 waste places should be removed by mowing before burs are formed, 

 or, better still, by hand removal following rain, when the ground is 

 soft. The spud, mattock, and hoe are all useful instruments in 

 eradicating cocklebur. The removal of cockleburs from waste areas 

 is of special importance, because the bm-s from a single plant may 

 spread to all parts of the farm, since they adhere readily to the 

 clothing of passers-by or to the coats of animals. 



If the farm is equipped with spraying machinery it is practicable 

 to destroy cockleburs entirely by spraying early in the spring with 

 a solution of iron sulphate used at the rate of 2 pounds of the chemi- 

 cal to a gallon of water. 



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