Quack grass eradication, prepared especially for farmers desirous of destroying this dangerous pest

Front matter

am^^^tlAlB

Book_^

Gopightl^".

Appendix

A Few Statements Concerning the Efficiency of Mr. Crane's Method. — A List of Standard Agricultural Books.

T'

THIS CERTIFICATE ENTITLES PURCHASER ONLY TO THE USE OF THE CRANE FORMULA HEREIN MENTIONED

h/iale of ii^t^-n. a.'ne/ //c Sa/l are i/ioi'oity/uy m

tlOICt- ftr»t time mabe public In tl)l» booh.

RESERVED

Chapter I. What Is Quack Grass?

A Plant Out of Place. — It has been said that a weed is but a plant out of place, or a plant for which no good use has been found. Quack grass is this kind of a weed, especially in those agricultural sections of the United States where mixed farming is pursued, and the growing of an occasional crop is the rule. Quack grass, together with the wild wheat grasses, to which it is closely related, is found in many sections of the United States. Like the wheat grasses, it is a valuable plant in semi-arid sections where the obtaining of a permanent stand of grass is desired, and where it is difficult to grow the ordinary tame grasses.

Quack Grass Hay is quite nutritious, and quack grass pasture is apparently relished by all kinds of stock. There are some sections of the country where quack grass might become a valuable plant as a regular crop, but in the regions where mixed farming is pursued, it is certainly a plant out of place, and must at all times be considered as a very dangerous weed which a farmer will

Fig-. 1. Quack grass (Agropyron repens Beauv.). (a) spikelet; (b) parts of spikelet displayed; (2) empty g-lumes. (Div. of Agros. U. S. Dept. Agrl.) (Bulletin 83, Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa.)

WHAT IS QUACK GRASS? 11

allow to grow on his farm at his peril. Backed by its wonderful root system, it will survive almost any kind of unfavorable weather or soil conditions where it would be a most difficult problem for other plants to live, and it is so well equipped for a hard life that it will almost totally occupy rich land and crowd out and choke all other tame grasses, small grains and even a com crop.

A Perennial. — Quack grass belongs to that class of plants that are known as perennials, the name which designates plants that live over from year to year, starting from seed and developing leafage the first season and storing up a food supply in the roots to carry the plant over winter. This is in marked contrast to the growth of such annual plants as start from seed, make all their growth in one season and die after producing a crop. Quack grass is therefore doubly dangerous on account of its long-Hved characteristics. It has been a dangerous and troublesome weed in Europe for a great many years, causing vastly increased expense of operating farm land. With our increased labor expense over European conditions the pest is a far greater problem here than abroad.

Judging from its characteristiCvS and habitat, quack grass seems to be essentially a northern weed, being most persistent in the northern tier of states. It is so cosmopolitan in its taste, however, that it is reaching farther south every year, and may soon be nearly as troublesome in the corn belt as it is in the small grain states.

Identity. — Quack grass is known to the scientists as agropyron repens. It is quite often confused with a number of other grasses, especially the wheat grasses, to which family in fact it does belong. Without entering into a long discussion or description of these plants, we are publishing herewith photographs of quack grass plants and roots, and also photographs of other plants with which it is commonly confused.

Those who are suspicious of harboring these plants on their farms should make it a point to study the photographs published herewith, and positively identify the weed with which they have to contend.

Most of the experiment stations have published bulletins containing photographs of these different weeds. If the reader is at all in doubt as to the particular weed he has on his place, we would advise taking a specimen of the

Fig- 2. Heads of (1) quack grass; notice how mucli closer 'the spikelets are than in (2) rye grass; (3) true sweet vernal; (4) bromus.

stalk, seed and roots of the weed and sending it to the agronomist at the nearest experiment station. Comparison. — With reference to the different plants confused with quack grass, Prof. A. D. Wilson, of the Minnesota Experiment Station, has written the following description which appeared in a 1908 issue of The Farmer :

''There are often other plants that are taken for quack grass, either by the similarity of the heads or by the fact that they have underground stems or root stalks. Rye grass has a head somewhat similar to quack (See Figure 2), but the two may usually be identified by the fact that the spikelets on the head of the rye grass are farther apart than on the head of the quack grass. Each spikelet on the quack grass extends past the base of the head next higher on the same side of the head, while in rye grass each spikelet does not reach the base of the spikelet about it (See Figure 2). Rye grass is a plant rather commonly used for a hay crop, especially farther west where the seasons are usually dry. It does not make as good quality of hay as does timothy or bromus. It is not hard to destroy as it has no root stalks and may be distinguished from quack grass by the fact that its roots are fine and fiberous, similar to timothy roots.

Fig-. 3. Root and head of holy grass, commonly called sweet vernal because sweet scented and often mistaken for quack grass in the spring before heading, as it has root stalks.

' 'Another grass commonly called sweet vernal, though not truely sweet vernal (See Figure 3), is very often taken for quack grass as it has similar underground root stalks. This grass is usually recognized by its sweet, spicy odor and is certainly distinguished from quack grass by it bushy, panicled head, so different from the straight spike of the quack grass.

"Bromus, a cultivated grass quite commonly grown for hay or pasturage, may sometimes be mistaken for quack grass, especially when small. Bromus is rather persistent and after a meadow or pasture of bromus is plowed it often starts in thick bimches, in the spring, very similar to quack grass and the two are not easily told apart at this stage, as both have undergroimd root stalks. Bromus may be recognized, however, by its broader leaf, and when heads appear, by its broadly spreading panicle (See Figure 2) .

''Another class of plants known as muhlenbergia is sometimes mistaken for quack grass, but plants of this class may be told with reasonable accuracy by their scaly root stalks. (See Figure 4.) The heads also are sufficiently different to identify them. (See Figures 1 and 4). "

Fig-. 4. Roots and heads of one of the muhlenbergias. roots' of all are similar. Note scaly root stalk.

The

Chapter II. How Quack Grass Grows

Seeds. — Quack grass is usually introduced onto a farm either through the purchase of grass and grain seed or the purchase of hay containing quack. In buying hay a farmer should always be very careful to ascertain whether it comes from a quack grass farm. Quack grass seeds will not all be destroyed by feeding the hay to live stock, and if there is any seed in the hay the chances are that the farmer will later have some strange plants on his farm which he will, in time, identify as quack grass.

Caution. — Until we have pure grain seed laws, when a farmer can tell exactly what he is buying, he is never safe from the introduction of quack grass on his farm. It is most often found in grass seed, and especially in timothy. While the seed is in the husk it is somewhat of the shape and size of blue grass seed or EngUsh rye grass, When the kernel shells out the naked seed is about the size of timothy, but longer, and is very likely to slip through without being detected. We reproduce here the photographs of the seed,

HOW QUACK GRASS GROWS.

both with and without the husk. Look to your grass seed and do not plant any with quack in. This is the first step in prevention.

Fig;. 5. Seeds of (1) quack grass, sing-le; (2) quack grass with two or inore seeds as they grew. They were not separated wlien shelled. They often appear together in this

•• manner. (3) Pigeon grass.

How Introduced. — Quack grass may be in the hay purchased from neighbors. It may be brought on the farm in screenings. The droppings of animals pastured on quack grass may start the pest, or it may creep under the fence from the neighbors. Once quack grass gets into a commimity it soon gets the visiting habit and tries to take up its abode on every farm in that community. It is doubly dangerous on account of the insidious manner in which it works its way onto the land of our good farms, getting a strong foothold before its presence is detected.

The Tremendous Importance of Checking this weed at its first appearance, we cannot emphasize too strongly. A Httle job of hand digging may do the work at the start, but once the patches begin to appear over the farm, more vigorous measures must be undertaken and some of the remedies mentioned in this book adopted.

There are very few men in the country who can say that they have killed quack grass. Some by tremendous energy and expense, have subdued it to the point where they can grow a profitable crop for one year, but complete eradication is another matter. As long as a single root remains in the soil a constant fight must be waged.

The Wisconsin Experiment Station estimates that it costs $30 an acre to exterminate quack grass by ordinary cultural methods. These methods have usually proven impractical in the hands of the average farmer. We believe that with the ordinary methods in use it will cost far more than this amoimt, and every farmer knows that the depreciation in the value of land known to be infested is more than the above amoimt.

A Blessing in Disguise.— Quack grass is not without its merits. It has been called by some

HOW QUACK GRASS GROWS. 21

of our authorities a blessing in disguise. It is one of those perennial weeds that finds its best chance to grow on the farm where there is not a proper rotation of crops; in other words, on the farm of the soil robber. Weeds of this kind are Nature's rebuke to the man who believes in continuous cultivation of land and who never gives the soil a rest by seeding down.

It is an actual fact that land which has been cursed with quack grass, when reclaimed, is in an exceedingly fertile condition, the mass of decayed roots and the rest given to the soil having practically rejuvenated it. Nature has merely followed her usual course of rotating crops and building up the fertility of the soil by adding humus and stored plant food in the shape of roots.

A Reclaimed quack grass farm is usually in almost a virgin state of fertility and will pay good interest by way of increased crops for the labor and loss of time spent in eradication. We believe a farmer should not rest content with anything short of complete eradication, such as Mr. Crane has made possible.

Chapter III. Principles Of Eradication

In the eradication of perennial weeds there are two principal points to consider:

First, the elimination of the stalk and leaves, or all above ground growth.

Second, the destruction of all roots.

Annual Weeds are as a rule easily destroyed by simple cultivation, or the putting of land into cultivated crops. Barley is a useful crop to handle in connection with winter annual weeds.

A Perennial plant, with an extensive root system, is an entirely different proposition. In a perennial plant, the stalk and leaves are merely the stomach of the plant. True it is that we can keep down growth by shutting off the stomach of the roots and starving them to death, but it is a difficult task.

As long as a single spear of grass can show itself to the sun or to the air, just so long will the roots retain their vitality. Our aim must therefore be to entirely smother and rot them in the soil.

PRINCIPLES OF ERADICATION. 23

Of the Different Methods of eradication which give partial success, we would especially mention those methods that are based on the starvation of the roots : namely, the use of smother crops or bare fallowing. If a farmer wishes to completely eradicate quack grass from his farm, he must make up his mind to do a most thorough job. He will, by fallowing, lose the use of that land for one year.

Eradication of quack grass requires effectual work and there is no use in temporizing with it. It can be partially subdued and a crop grown, but it creeps in from year to year and will always be an annoyance. A large share of the recent spread of quack grass can be directly traced to this cherished habit that farmers have of trying to eradicate quack grass and attempting a profitable crop at the same time. The crop very seldom turns out in a satisfactory manner. The quack grass is merely tickled by cultivation into further vigor, and the results are unsatisfactory all around.

Farmers who are in dead earnest in their efforts to eradicate quack grass, can do so by the careful following of the Crane System. Furthermore, it will pay them to do this, even though they lose the use of the land for that year. This

PRINCIPLES OF ERADICATION. 25

is not necessary in all cases, however. In the first place they will be completely freed from the pest, and in the next place their land will be in so much finer mechanical condition, being mellow, fertile, and having all the plant food in the top soil available, that the increase in crops the following year on clean land will surely more than pay for the work of eradication.

Of the different methods of eradication, we would suggest those outlined below as the most practical to follow, which methods are described more in detail in later pages of this book,

Bare Fallowing. — Bare fallowing is the system most commonly advocated; in other words, the laying aside of a piece of land to be plowed in early summer before the quack grass has gone to seed and continuously replowed and harrowed throughout a growing season. This bare fallowing is ordinarily supposed to kill any weed, but unless the cultivator is especially faithful to his task, quack grass will elude him.

Smother Crops. — The use of smother crops is commonly advocated. Even the most enthusiastic advocates of this method do not assert that it will give complete eradication. The growing of buckwheat, sorghum, millet, clover, hemp and other foliage plants that shade the ground, will keep quack grass in subjection during that season and thus possibly do good, but the roots which persist in the ground will quickly recuperate, and thrive with their original vigor the next season. Of this method we shall have more to say in later pages of this book.

The Crane System. — Mr. Crane's system of complete eradication differs from other methods, in that it gives complete eradication of quack grass without damage to the land and without great expense, as is invariably the case with other haphazard methods. This method consists simply in turning quack grass sod roots under the ground to the point where they will not do any harm, and keeping them there by persistent cultivation, according to prescribed methods, until the roots have decayed. A dry season is supposed to be the proper time to kill quack grass, and the use of fallowing and other methods depend upon dry seasons. On the contrary, Mr. Crane's method does not depend upon the season to any great extent. Of the results of his method there can be no question ; the expressions of experts who have kept his fields under continuous inspection being sufficient evidence along this Hne. Not only has the method proven a success on Mr. Crane's own farm.

PRINCIPLES OF ERADICATION. 27

but it has proven likewise successful in the hands of other farmers. In the subsequent chapters of this book, Mr. Crane tells the story in his own words. It is the story of a practical farmer, who, by continuous experimentation, and after sad experience, has absolutely cleaned his farm of this weed, which was formerly so abundant that the place was known as ''The Quack Grass Farm."

Chapter IV. My Story

Credentials. — In order to give the proper credentials to the practical farmers who read this book, I will say that I have been in close touch with farm matters all my life, and most of my time has been spent in actual tilling of the soil.

I was born in Milwaukee, Wis., March 6th, 1847, moved to Minnesota in 1869, and spent my early life on a farm in Chippewa County, Minnesota. In later years I conceived the idea of making a fortune in the city, but after a heavy loss by fire in 1897, I went back to my first love — the farm.

The Last Farm which I purchased was in Hennepin county, Minnesota, near Long Lake. I knew that the soil w^as a heavy clay loam and capable of producing first-class crops.

I did not know anything about quack grass, however, but after my purchase was made, became acquainted with the fact that the farm was very badly infested.

It did not take me very many years to find out that if I did not get rid of quack grass on that

MY STORY. 31

farm, the quack grass would take complete possession and run me off the place.

I Became so Discouraged that I could not sleep nights. The farm was mortgaged, and quack grass was getting more of a hold every day. I fairly cursed these roots from morning to night and loathed working among them; in fact, it was the most discouraging task I ever undertook. After most thoroughly cultivating and disking a field, in three or four days it would again begin to look green with a new growth of grass.

Final Success. — Under such conditions can you wonder that I was compelled to study this pest, and by different methods seek to eradicate it? Can you wonder that I am anxious to tell other farmers of my final success after many years of careful work?

My fields today are open to the inspection of anyone who cares to look at them, and they are as free from quack grass, and all other serious weeds, as was the virgin soil. Moreover, they are in the best state of fertility that they have ever been since the land was originally broken up. My land, in the condition which I found it, was worth practically nothing for cropping purposes.

I know of many other such farms that should be worth $100 an acre, which can be rented to-day absolutely free of charge if a man will merely work them.

Today my farm is not only free of this weed, but it is in the finest possible mechanical condition, and I believe as fertile as it ever could be.

I have increased its value from practically nothing, to $300.00 per acre.

This land was a solid mat of quack grass. Today I have a ten acre apple orchard that is entirely free from quack, also raspberries, strawberries and plums. This increased value is solely because of the eradication of quack grass.

I therefore feel no hesitation in advising my fellow farmers on the same subject.

Since everything written has been taken from my own personal experience, I know exactly what I am talking about when I give advice and instruction. All this information has been secured by hard knocks with quack grass itself.

Nature's Restorative. — In these years while I have been studying and fighting quack grass, I have gleaned many other ideas on good farming. In the first place I have found out that quack grass is really a soil builder. When a

Fig-. 0. This twin elm tree stands on Mr. Crane's farm. In early days it was used as a landmark for passersby. and the farm was called the "Twin Elm Farm." Later it became known as the "Quack Grass Farm." Since eradicating- the quack grass it is again pronounced the "Twin Elm Farm."

man grows continuous crops of com and other crops without putting back the proper compensation of fertiUty in the soil, he soon exhausts this soil of humus and plant food which is so necessary for the continuous growing of good crops. Then Nature starts to growing perennial weeds, such as quack grass and other weeds that have a great root system. This mass of roots in the soil gathers plant food and holds moisture, and after dying and decaying again leaves in that soil the good heart which was originally given to it by the decaying crops of prairie grasses and forest mold. Nature locks up plant food when we farm land improperly. In other words it lacks humus and is out of mechanical condition. Grass roots restore this humus, unlock plant food, and the soil again becomes in good mechanical condition. I believe that some of our richest land today can be found under quack grass sods.

Rotation of Crops. — In the next place I have learned that a sensible rotation of crops is absolutely essential in connection with good farming. We must give land a rest by seeding down to grass occasionally, especially the legumes which not only leave an abimdance of roots in the soil, but which take from the air nitrogen and put it into the soil in the form of nitrates ready for sue-

MY STORY. 35

ceeding crops. I have found that where a farmer practices a three or five year rotation of crops, which includes at least a year or two of grass, and feeds out this roughage to live stock, putting back the manure onto the grass land, he will keep the soil in almost a continuous state of fertility, and never find it necessary to purchase commercial fertilizer. This is Nature's way of farming, and I have observed that the closer we follow Nature, the better we will come out financially in our farming operations.

Feeding the Soil. — I have found that we must feed the soil just as we feed our stock, and if we feed the soil we must turn the farm into a factory, sending off of it the finished products in the form of meat and butter, and saving the by-product — manure — and putting it onto the land before its manurial value is wasted. I have foimd a manure spreader a first-class investment for my farm, and believe it pays for itself every year.

If I have any rotten strawstacks, the refuse goes back on the land. All manure is hauled out and used for top dressing the meadows and the grain fields immediately after the seeding is done. By following this rotation of crops, and the saving of all the manure, we keep all our capital — the fertility of the soil — right on the farm, and clip off the coupons in the way of finished products.

Cultivation is the foe of all weeds. The greatest benefit I have received in fighting quack grass has been the lesson of cultivation. By turning over the soil by cultivation we liberate all possible plant food, we warm the soil ; we mellow it; we aerate it, and get it into the best possible condition for a crop. No hard, lumpy condition of the soil should be aUowed to exist. Disk the land until you have pulverized the lumps. When you have seeded the field, and the tiny root of grain starts out in search of plant food, proper cultivation will put that plant food right in its path, but if it strikes a hard lump of earth which the root cannot penetrate, right there the growth is cut short.

The Eradication of Quack Grass is intimately connected with good farming. I have noticed that the richer your land, the easier it is to eradicate quack grass. The poorer your land is, and the less humus it contains, the harder it is to eradicate quack grass. Therefore, when you are working with this weed, always keep in mind the enrichment of your soil.

You could not find a more worthless forty acre farm in Minnesota than was mine when I purchased it. Today I do not believe you can find a better forty in the state, and I challenge any farmer to produce better crops than I will produce on this re-claimed quack grass farm. I extend a general invitation to every farmer interested in this work, to visit the farm and see the results, as I beUeve it is the only absolutely re-claimed quack grass farm which exists today.

Chapter V. The Crane System Of Quack Grass Eradication

The Information which has been sent out from the agricultural experiment stations, and through the agricultural press, concerning the eradication of quack grass, would fill volumes. I feel safe in saying, however, that a great deal of this information has not been based upon the actual experience of those giving tliis information. There are very few people who from actual experience can say that they have subdued quack grass to the point where they can raise profitable crops, to say nothing of complete eradication. Furthermore, the information disseminated has been so conflicting and so imperfect in many cases that the farmer seeking information has become confused and disgusted to the point where he believes that it is entirely impossible to absolutely eradicate the pest.

As Originator of the ' ' Crane System * ' I claim to be the only man living who has actually reclaimed an abandoned quack grass farm, and to have originated a practical system of eradication which can be followed by any farmer who cares to study the matter and follow instructions.

The Fields on my farm at Long Lake, in Hennepin County, Minnesota, which were completely taken by a most vigorous stand of qua,ck grass, can be inspected by anyone who cares to mske an investigation; and I challenge anyone to produce cleaner fields or a more perfect condition of the soil. These fields have been repeatedly investigated by competent experts whose testimony is given in another portion of this book, and I have at all times kept the standing offer to give $5.00 for any Hve root or spear of quack grass which can be found on the fields so treated.

Quack grass is undoubtedly one of the worst pests that the American farmer ever had to contend with. On account of its extreme hardiness, and its abiUty to thrive on most any kind of soil or under most adverse conditions, it seems almost an utter impossibility to destroy it. Thousands of farmers have labored persistently and continuously year after year, trying as best they knew how, to kill, or at least check the growth and further spread of its roots; but in spite of all their toil and precaution Quack Grass has made steady progress. It has spread from the little green patch that was first discovered in the field, until it has entirely and completely covered said field, and not being satisfied with that, has continued its onward march across the Hne into the adjoining fields, and along the highways and the byways, and is rapidly creeping into every nook and corner where vegetation grows, and will continue to spread just as long as it is allowed to exist.

Complete Eradication of quack grass is what the American farmer wants today, and were I not able to give you this, there would be no need of this book. Many progressive tillers of the soil can hold quack grass in subjection, and thereby raise a fair crop on his land; but to accomplish this one has to do a great deal of extra work every year, and still the quack grass roots are sufficiently numerous to again thoroughly sod the ground the next season.

It is true that this cultivation is very beneficial to the soil, and where you have applied a proper system of cultivation I have no hesitancy in stating that your field produced an increased yield, and you were rejoiced in that you had gotten a little the best of quack grass. I feel safe is stating that thousands of farmers have applied sufficient cultivation to their quack grass fields to have completely eradicated the quack, had this work been applied in the proper manner. For seven years I struggled along in this manner, and all of the time the quack was getting the best of me. In 1902 I used a chemical solution that was strong enough to kill the quack. I applied this to the patches in the field, and those patches are still visible, as it not only killed the quack, but ruined the soil, and those patches are barren today.

My next success was with a spray which would check the growth of the plant so that it would succumb to cultivation. This spray was applied to the grass which was plowed under. Then the groimd was thoroughly disked so as to form a dust covering, or mulch, all over the surface of the field. This served to conserve the moisture, also to prevent the evaporation of the spray, and where the disking was repeated every week for seven weeks, the grass was completely gone, and nothing but the dead and decayed roots remained to tell the story. From this I learned that quack grass could be killed by cultivation alone; but cultivation without the spray takes from two to four weeks more time. While it takes more time and cultivation to kill it in this manner, the extra cultivation is very beneficial to your land. I am sure that you will agree with me (after you have killed your quack) that quack grass has really proved a friend in saving your soil fertility.