Weeds. 



203 



times been recommended, but in practice it will be found that this 

 plant will require many successive mowings to prevent it from perfect- 

 ing seeds. The stems formed after each mowing will, it is true, be 

 successively shorter and shorter till at last they will be too short to 

 mow readily, especially on uneven ground, but they will nevertheless 

 blossom and bear fruit. Some annuals grow in such a prostrate man- 

 ner that it is not possible to mow them so that they shall not mature 

 seed. Formerly the hoe was extensively used in destroying weeds in 

 gardens and fields, but at present its use has largely been superseded 

 by the use of the plow, the harrow and the cultivator. When weeds 

 are to be kept down or destroyed in whole fields or over extended areas, 

 probably there is no more satisfactory method of doing it than by the 

 judicious use of these instruments. Probably there is no weed that 

 invades our fields that cannot be overcome in one season by their 

 faithful and intelligent use. It is now recommended that gardens 

 even be planted in long rows sufficiently far apart to permit the free 

 use of the horse cultivator in keeping down the weeds. Even with 

 the hand cultivator they can be destroyed much more rapidly than 

 with the hoe; but this necessitates their destruction while they are 

 yet young and small. But this is as it should be. The rule should be 

 to kill them as early as possible. The earlier the better. Much labor 

 is thereby saved. The best farmers do not allow the early crop of 

 weeds to show themselves above ground. They kill them before they 

 come up. This is done by frequently stirring the surface of the soil 

 in their cultivated fields with the harrow and the cultivator. The 

 latter is kept in use at frequent intervals till the crops are too large to 

 permit cultivation any longer; then by shading the ground they them- 

 selves do much to retard weed growth . 



But there are certain annuals that take advantage of this cessation 

 m cultivation and make this method of weed destruction imperfect. 

 These weeds are very hardy, they commence growth late in the season, 

 develop rapidly, endure considerable shade and frost unharmed and 

 perfect their seeds before freezing weather kills them. They are the 

 autumnal occupants of gardens, corn fields and potato fields. They 

 are the bitter weed, knot weeds, pig weeds, crab grass, old witch 

 grass, barnyard grass, yellow fox tail and green fox tail grasses. They 

 are all or nearly all quite tenacious of life and if pulled up and thrown 

 upon the ground in wet weather they will take root again and perfect 

 their seed. Probably the most available method of destroying them 

 would be to plant corn and potatoes or other cultivable crops in rows 

 far enough apart to permit of continued, shallow cultivation so late in 



