8 BULLETIN 1451, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
COST OF DIGGING BARBERRIES 
The cost of digging a barberry bush may vary within wide limits. 
In many cases small plants growing wild in sand or light loam may 
be pulled out by hand, and digging may not be necessary. The same 
is true of bushes 2 or 3 feet high which may have been recently 
planted. Even good-sized planted bushes often may be thoroughly 
removed in 15 minutes' work with a grub hoe. It is a common 
observation that planted bushes, as a rule, do not develop as large 
and extensive root systems as escaped bushes. ,This difference prob- 
ably is due to the somewhat adverse soil conditions surrounding 
shrubbery in many plantings, as well as to the effects of transplant- 
ing. With the larger escaped bushes, and also some of the especially 
thrifty planted ones, thorough eradication may require an hour of 
hard work, and in some especially difficult cases, as where the roots 
of the bush are deep in rocky soil or intertwined with roots of larger 
trees, a half day or more may be needed. The following data illus- 
trate what may be expected where large areas of escaped barberries 
are eradicated by digging. 
In Rock County, in southern Wisconsin, about 2,000 escaped bar- 
berry bushes were found in a 10-acre field. This field at one time 
had been used as a nursery, and when that was abandoned cedar trees 
were set out at about 30-foot intervals. The trees had reached a 
good size when the barberries were found. Most of the bushes were 
growing under the trees and close around the trunks. Here the 
birds or cattle had dropped the seed and the young plants had found 
protection while establishing themselves. 
At the time of the eradication, in August, 1920, the bushes varied 
from small plants, a foot or so high, to good-sized, well-established 
bushes. The weather was hot and the ground very dry, so that 
digging was difficult. The roots of the cedars also interfered with 
the work. Six men worked approximately five days, and a team of 
horses was employed for a full day. The total cost was $175.91. 
The estimated number of bushes of all sizes eradicated was 2,000, 
which made the average cost of eradicating a bush 8.8 cents. 
In 1921 a large number of sprouts developed in this field, and in 
1922 four men were sent to the area to complete the eradication. 
They reported about 1,000 sprouting bushes (pi. 8). The actual 
cost of eradicating them was $209.50, or a cost equal to 10.5 cents 
on each of the original 2,000 bushes. This was early in September, 
and again the ground was hard and digging difficult. This brought 
the total cost per bush up to 19.3 cents. An examination of the 
property in 1923 showed a large number of sprouts developing. 
Another propert}^, concerning which there are fairly accurate data, 
is in Dane County, Wis. Here the bushes varied from small to very 
large. About half of the bushes were in rocky soil. They were 
scattered over a 160-acre farm in the unglaciated section of the 
county. Digging was done in the latter part of August, 1921, at a 
total cost of $244.80. About 2,000 bushes were dug at an average 
cost of 12.24 cents each. In 1922 a very large number of sprouts 
developed (pi. 9, A), and it was estimated that the cost of digging 
them would exceed the original cost of digging. By 1923, however, 
chemical methods of eradication were well developed, and the sprouts 
were treated with salt. 
