7t>c RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1063 
Quack Grass, the Running, Pest of the Farm 
r 
A SERIOUS TROUBLE.—One of 1 lie worst wood 
pests on our American farms is the plant known 
;is crab, witch, quack or twitch grass. There are 
many other names that are applied to this rapid- 
growing grass, which develops so rapidly that its 
underground roots overrun entire fields when given a 
chance. The picture at Fig. oOS shows what this 
.rass can do if left alone. There are thousands of 
acres along the Atlantic slope which are at present 
presenting an even worse appearance than that 
shown in the picture. The roots of this grass are 
used in making certain kinds of medicine, and have 
a considerable value at this time. The grass has a 
higher feeding value than Timothy, and really has 
some value as a mulch or cover crop, in orchards 
where the owners do not care for the foul appear¬ 
ance of the field. Generally speaking, however, quack 
grass is an enemy to all good farmers. 
CLEANING TT OUT.—We generally have more 
LIVE STOCK PASTURING.—Pasturing sheep in 
a bad pasture of quack grass will clean it up, espe¬ 
cially if the field is heavily stocked so that the sheep 
must be fed in addition. Some pastures have been 
known to be cleaned up in two years by constant 
pasturing of sheep. Ilogs ai - e also useful in this 
« 
case, as they rip up roots and destroy many of them, 
but do not gnaw the grass as closely as sheep, so that 
the quack is not thoroughly killed out. Sometimes a 
farmer thinks he has cleaned out a field, and after a 
year or two it comes back again. This is generally 
because sheep were unable to clean up all grass along 
the walls and fences, and the quack grass worked in 
from these places or from outside fields. 
HEAVY CROPPING.—Another method for clean¬ 
ing out the tops of the quack grass is to seed heavily 
with some crop like buckwheat, which makes a very 
heavy growth in the latter part of the season. To 
do (his you plow early and work thoroughly with a 
leaves them on top, while the disk or cultivator may 
chop them off. but they will sprout once more. In a 
dry, hot season, this thorough working will kill out 
most of the grass, but in a very wet season it is diffi¬ 
cult to overcome. 
FALL PLOWING.—Many people plow in the Fall, 
leaving the furrows rough during the Winter. Then 
in the Spring, before the quack can start, they begin 
with a spring-tooth harrow and rip out all the roots 
they can. The field is then planted in corn, put in 
hills so they can be cultivated both ways, hand hoe¬ 
ing around the hills supplementing the work of a 
cultivator. Then at the last of the season a heavy 
cover crop of buckwheat and clover or a mixture of 
rye and barley can be worked in with a cultivator 
and raked in along the rows. This', followed up a 
couple of years with hoed crops, will get rid of most 
of the quack grass, but it will be necessary to do a 
thorough job. as any clumps of roots left alive in the 
ml t 
Quart; . 1 8 It Take* Pott.sc union of the Land in Minnesota. Fiji. JOS 
questions asking how to get rid of this pest than are 
sent on any other subject. During the last two years 
we have had at least bo methods proposed for clean¬ 
ing out quack grass, and they are based on prac¬ 
tically the same principle. This grass propagates 
not only from seed, but also from its underground 
loots, and even after seed-making is prevented the 
crop will spread and develop rapidly under the soil. 
In order to kill it out. therefore, something must be 
done not only to prevent its producing seeds, but 
something must be done to kill the roots. The fact 
is that these blades of grass cannot develop without 
root growth, and the root growth in turn is easier 
to dispose of if the growth of the tops can he thor¬ 
oughly prevented, for the root growth, is dependent 
upon the growth above ground. Flans for killing out 
the grass are therefore figured from two points of 
view. One is to smother or to destroy all the growth 
above ground. The other is to rip out and destroy 
fill growth under ground. 
disk or spring-tooth harrow, chopping or pulling out 
the roots and raking them up to be burned. Then 
in late .Tune a heavy seeding of buckwheat is given. 
This makes a quick, heavy growth, and in most cases 
will thoroughly kill out as much of the quack grass 
as you left after working. Another crop recommend¬ 
ed for this purpose is fodder corn. Scatter it thickly 
over the ground broadcast and work in like small 
grain. Any crop of this sort which will make a rank 
and heavy growth through the Summer will smother 
most of the quack grass, and when the tops are de¬ 
stroyed in this way the roots generally die. Another 
plan is to spend practically a whole Summer in 
chopping up and cultivating the field. The land is 
plowed in early Spring, as usual, and then k( pt thor¬ 
oughly stirred up with a disk or spring-too.h harrow, 
throwing up the grass roots to the surface, where 
they will be killed by the sun, or where they may be 
raked up and burned. The spring-tooth is the best 
tool for this purpose, as it rips the roots out and 
field will spread, and if not checked, will start to 
grow once more, and finally work all over the field. 
Weed Killers ” and How to Make Them 
O NE of our readers on the island of San Domingo 
writes that the governors of his town have 
passed an ordinance compelling all citizens to de¬ 
stroy grass or weeds in their yards. No grass is to 
be permitted in the town, and he wants to know how 
the growth can be killed out. The reason for this 
ordinance probably is that efforts are being made to 
destroy insects like mosquitoes, daggers or other 
insects found in the tropics. The simplest way for 
this man to operate would be to apply common salt, 
either in solution or dry. lie will have to use at 
the rate of from 10 to 20 tons to the acre, depending 
on the character and kind of growth. This applica¬ 
tion will completely destroy all vegetation and leave 
the ground free from any growth for a year or 
