26 
The Colorado 
Experiment Station 
that if dug out early in the season, by the first method, just be¬ 
fore the plants mature seed, and again in autumn, the dandelion 
can be kept under excellent control, especially if the lawn does 
not become seeded heavily from outside areas. 
Digging is useful, also, in connection with spraying in order 
to remove the few plants which may survive that treatment. It 
was found that plants cut off 
below the crown will sprout 
up again from the depth of 
even 4 inches. Plants thus 
dug, however, will not 
bloom again during that 
season, except possibly in a 
very few cases. This fact 
makes it possible to control 
seed production in plants on 
the premises, but of course 
does not hinder seeding 
from outside sources. 
Digging is commonly performed with a stiff-bladed knife, a 
spud, or a chisel. A cheap wood chisel with one-inch blade is a suit¬ 
able tool for the work and permits of deeper cutting than a 
pocket knife. The writer has used the smallest leaf from an old 
buggy spring and has found it to be the most effective tool thus 
far tried for this purpose. One end was sharpened on a grind¬ 
stone and the other was shortened 
and • bent into a convenient 
handle in a blacksmith shop. 
With this tool the largest plants 
can be readily cut several inches 
below the surface and pried loose 
with two or three simple motions. 
It is not necessary to dig a hole 
in the sod, but the plants can usu¬ 
ally easily be lifted out when 
loosened in this way. Having the 
lawn well watered, so that the soil 
is quite soft, facilitates the opera¬ 
tion and in some cases the entire 
tap root will pull out of the ground, especially when they are 
pried up instead of being cut off underground. 
Digging by the second method, while not commonly employed 
on the small lawn, is entirely effective, as it permanently dis- 
Fig". 14c. Prying up and pulling out 
plant. 
