Weeds.
Read about Weeds. in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Weeds. A weed is a plant that is not wanted. There are, therefore, no species of weeds, for a plant that is a weed in one place may not be in another. There are, of course, species that are habitual weeds; but in their wild state, where they do not intrude on cultivated areas, they can scarcely be called weeds. The common pigweed and the purslane are sometimes vegetables, in which case potato plants would be weeds if they grew among them. It would have been a sorry thing for agriculture if there had been no weeds. They have made us stir the soil, and stirring the soil is the foundation of good farming. Even after we have learned that crops are benefited by the stirring of the land, we are likely to forget the lesson or to be neglectful of it unless the weeds constantly remind us of it. Necessity is always the best schoolmaster; and of these necessities, weeds are amongst the chief. The one way to destroy weeds is to practise good farming. Judicious tillage should always keep weeds down in cultivated lands. In idle lands weeds are likely to be a serious nuisance. In sod lands they are also likely to take the place of grass when for any reason the grass begins to fail. The remedy for weeds in grass lands, therefore, is to secure more grass. In order to do so, it may be necessary to plow the land and reseed. In some cases, however, it is only necessary to give the land a light surface tillage, to add clean and quickly available fertilizers, and to sow more grass seed. This is the fundamental remedy for weeds on lawns. If such weeds are perennial, as dandelion and plantain, it is advisable to pull them out; but in order to keep them out, a stiffer sod should be secured. The annual weeds that come in the lawn the first year are usually destroyed by frequent use of the lawn-mower. Foul lands may usually be cleared of weeds by a short and sharp system of rotation of crops, combined with good tillage in some of the crops of the series. When the land for any reason is fallow—as when it is waiting for a crop—surface tillage with harrows or cultivators will serve to keep down the weeds and to make the land clean for the coming crop. Often lands that are perfectly clean in spring and early summer become foul in the fall after the crops are removed. Cleaning the land late in the season, therefore, may be one of the most efficient means of ridding the place of weeds. Coarse and rough stable manure, which is not well rotted, may also be a conveyer of weed seed. The seeds of weeds are sometimes carried in the seed with which the land is sown, particularly in grass and grain seeds. It does not follow that weeds are always an evil, even when they are abundant. In autumn a good covering of weeds may serve as an efficient cover-crop for the orchard. They are likely to entail some extra care the next year in order to prevent them from gaining a mastery, but this extra care benefits the orchard at the same tune. It is, of course, far better to sow the cover-crop oneself, for then the orchardist secures what he wants and of the proper quantity and at the right season: but a winter cover of weeds is usually better than bare earth. From the above remarks it will be seen that weeds are scarcely to be regarded as fundamental difficulties in farming, but rather as incidents. In the most intensive and careful farming the weeds bother the least. There should be a careful oversight of all waste areas, as roadsides and vacant lots. The greatest difficulty arises on commons and waste land, not on farms. Weeds are often troublesome in walks, particularly in those made of gravel. If the walk were excavated 2 feet deep and filled with stones, rubble, or coal-ashes, weeds cannot secure a foothold. It is particularly important that gutters be not laid directly on the soil, else they become weedy. There are various preparations that can be applied to walks to kill the weeds, although, of course, they also kill the grass edgings if carelessly applied. Strong brine, applied hot, is one of the best (one pound of salt to one gallon of water). There are also preparations of arsenic, vitriol, lime, and sulfur, known as herbicides. For identification of weeds and means of control, see Georgia's "Manual of Weeds," New York, 1914.
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
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