PUBLISHED FIVE TIMES YEARLY A ND DISTRIBUTED FREE TO LOVERS OF BEAUTIFUL TURF Vol. VI No. 2 KNAWEL Other Names—German Knot-Grass. Annual—Propa- Annual and Winter gates by seeds. to November. Seed Time—May Range—Eastern United States and Canada from Quebec to Florida and as far inland as Ohio. — Lawns, gardens and along road- ways. Habitat just Here is a per- sistent little weed and incon- spicuous enough to gain headway before its pres- ence is observed. It b l o o ms and p r o d u c es seeds from early spring fall. until T he of Knawel are abun- dant and long lived. If undisturbed in the soil they will retain their vitality for several years. late seeds light green, The roots of Knawel are tough and fibrous. They send up a number of slen- der, fork-branched stems which are from three to six inches long. These stems, as the illustration indicates, spread the stems are hairy yet sometimes smooth, in all directions. Usually March-April 1933 some erect and some prostrate. The leaves are quite small, awn-shaped, and approximately one-third inch in length. The colored, pointed at one end and diverging into five points at the other. light, straw seeds are During the year 1932 we received more specimens of Knawel for identifi- cation than during the previous three. It may have been a season peculiarly favor- able to its growth or it may be that lawns in general are being watched more closely for weeds all kinds. of CONTROL OF K N A W E L. I n d i v i d u al plants are easily removed with a spud or trowel. It is also possible to destroy them by making applica- tions of carbolic acid or other acids upon the root of the plant by means of a machine oiling can. This method, of course, kills the weed with the least defacement to the lawn. One authority suggests that carbolic acid, the prescribed remedy for Knawel, is difficult to obtain and not safe for use by the average layman. "Gasoline/' sug- gests this gentleman, "is just as effective KNAWEL, Selerenthus Annus. as carbolic acid and may also be applied with a squirt oil can." — Others have used a pinch of Ammo- nium Sulfate, Iron Sulfate or Nitrate of Soda. All act as weed killers when placed on the crown of the plant (see "The Spotting Method of Weed Eradi- cation," page 3, August, 1 9 31 L A WN CARE) and also (Iron Sulfate excepted) serve as a fertilizer, whereas the Carbolic Acid does not. Distributing Fertilizers THE even distribution of fertilizers on lawns is a perplexing problem to many home owners. For a small lawn, 50 by 50 feet or less, the applying of grass food by hand is the natural method. In such instances we suggest an ordinary sifter rather than simply scattering the material by hand. The latter tends to produce a spotted growth of grass, or where applied very promiscuously may result in a temporary burning of the lawn. Anyone who has devised some sim- ple home-made appliance for putting fer- tilizer on the small lawn will do us a great favor if they will describe their "inventions" so we may pass the word along in L A WN CARE. For the comparatively large lawn a me- chanical spreader will save time, do an even job of distributing and conserve the material being applied. Those who own spreaders of one kind or another feed their lawns with greater regularity simply because they are equipped to do the work quickly. We will describe any type of spreader in L A WN CARE which is brought to our attention. We do not sponsor nor do we advocate any particular kind. What is said of spreaders here is im- printed from the manufacturers' own literature. The prices are their prices. If you do not have a fertilizer spreader, want one and do not find it available lo- cally, we shall be glad to have your order shipped to you direct from the manufac- turer, if you will tell us what make and size you wish. MASTERS FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTORS. (All three types mentioned here are for efficient distribution of all dry materials such as commercial fertilizers, grass seed, top-dressing, sand, lime, salt, arsenate of lead and other chemicals.) Shut-off and adjustment for regulating quantity, on handle, perforated scatter-board to sift fertilizer evenly. Prices F. O. B. Chicago —36 inch width with double disk wheels, $12.24; same, with single disk wheels, $11.00; 16 inch width, $8.75; Junior dis- tributor, for small lawns (16 inch width but of lighter construction), $3.00. M O O RE VIBRATOR FERTILIZER D I S- TRIBUTOR. Flow of materials can be regu- lated—flow of material stopped when distributor not in motion. Of light con- struction but claimed to be strong and simply made. Prices—26 inch size, ca- pacity of hopper 50 pounds, $12.00; 14 inch size (capacity of hopper 10 pounds), $1.95 F. o. B. Waterloo, Iowa. T H O M P S ON WHEELBARROW SPREAD- ERS. Built in wheelbarrow style with two handles. Rate of application adjust- able down to 10 pounds per 1000 square feet. Prices—No. 208, spreading width 6 feet (two wheels), capacity 150 pounds, $50.00; No. 110, spreading width 6 feet (one wheel; two on No. 208 model), capacity 100 pounds, $25.00; No. 108, suitable for side-dressing as well as top dressing and broadcasting, 2l/2 feet spread, $22.50;No. 112, 2l/i feet spread, 50 pound capacity, $13.50 F. O. B. Ypsi- lanti, Mich. We have a limited supply of folders illustrating and more completely describ- ing these spreaders, available to any who want them. Please feel free to write us about other makes of spreaders which have come to your attention and which you have found easy to operate, well built and worth the money. issue of From the Garden Press FRESHENING UP THE LAWN, by Morris A. Hall, appears in the March the American Home Magazine. We commend it to the read- ers of that publication. Among other things Mr. Hall says "reseeding becomes necessary because lack of food has starved out the original grass. . . . Seed is com- parable to paint. Select good ingredients. Some combinations are based on Timothy and Redtop (Rye Grass, too) and a bit of White Clover." Like cheap paint such a mixture may look well for a few weeks or months but it lacks permanence. Low priced mixtures invariably contain a predominance of quick growing temporary grasses and purchased at any price are not a bargain. The chances are a prohibitive price has been paid for cheap seed. It is also well to remember that these temporary grasses do not spread out or stool. They leave a wide berth for weeds and weeds never turn down such an invitation. Rough Sailing Ahead for the Dandelion THE March issue of Better Homes and Gardens contains the following — I— item: "q u i c k, WATSON, THE NEEDLE. " My dear Mr. Peterson: "Having dug dandelions for years with no appreciable effect other than a tired back, sore hands, and shattered disposition, it occurred to me that we had at hand a most efficient exterminator in the form of ordinary gasoline. This is nothing new, of course, but the difficulty has been to apply it properly so it would kill the plant and nothing else. Ordinary oil cans will not do. "So, in looking around for a suitable applicator I happened to pick up one of the large glass syringes the medical pro- fession uses for taking blood samples and the like. Here was an ideal applicator, as it had a ground-glass plunger and a very long, slender needle. I tried it. The result was beyond my wildest dreams. I applied the treatment to dandelions large and small, including, incidentally, a few plantains and other weeds in my lawn, and shortly it was necessary to hunt for these pests instead of them at every step. I dug up dandelions in vari- ous stages of decomposition, and found the roots completely destroyed. finding " My syringe holds an ounce. These in- struments can be procured at any surgi- cal-supply house in many sizes and prices. The cheap ones will answer as well as the finest.—Col. George A. Skinner, Medical Corps, Omaha, Nebraska. rrThis unique tickles our tool rather tools, more fancy. Why do dandelion the than others, reflect the profession of out user? The home maker cuts them with her paring knife; breathlessly busy businessman sprays them away with ammonium the them with a hypoder- doctor punctures mic needle "—E. H. Peterson. sulfate or iron sulfate; the Poor Worm! TH I N GS have taken a bad turn for the worm. Following the treatise in February LAWN CARE on killing earth- worms by electrocution, a friend whose name we failed to record, sent us the following item clipped from a Baptist Sunday School publication: A POLICEMAN'S WORM CHARMER. "There is a policeman in Omaha who charms worms out of the ground by the pailful. Officer Walter Lickert saw a clever device which a city fireman pos- sessed, and, being inventive, he went home and made one like it. It consists of two metal bicycle pump-handles, six- teen inches long, with insulated electrical connections below each handle, plenty of cord to plug in a light socket, and a bulb hanging between the pump-handles to show when the juice is on. Lickert only has to sink the handles in the earth about a foot apart and turn on the juice: Im- mediately the current begins to vibrate between the two and there is something like an electric storm in the earth. In a minute or two out comes every worm in the vicinity to see what it is all about. Within a four-foot radius of the electric "wands" the surface teems with worms. Officer Lickert keeps chickens, and his chickens will eat all the worms they can get. He also sells worms by the pail for bait. As he has five acres, he has an in- exhaustible supply of worms. The elec- tric current necessary to supply one in- candescent globe is not more than a cent an hour, so his chickenfeed is the cheap- est and best in Omaha." Our interest in earthworm suppression is in eliminating them as a lawn pest. We had no idea their technological capture for bait was fast becoming a great na- tional enterprise. Nature may protect the next generation of worms with in- sulation! — Growing Grass On Terraces In a forthcoming issue of LAWN CARE there will be a treatise covering the grow- ing and maintenance of grass on ter- races. We are now assembling data on this subject. Any of our readers who have had enlightening experiences in pro- ducing turf on steep or gradual slopes in the discussion. are Won't you send in your opinions at once? invited to join GRASS 'Tis springtime on the eastern hills! Like torrents gush the summer rills; Through winter s moss and dry dead leaves, The bladed grass revives and lives, Pushes the mouldering waste away, And glimpses to the April day. —John Greenleaf Whittier. Scott Publications Lawns, a small booklet of condensed facts about the making of a new lawn and the improvement of an old one. Bent Lawns, an illustrated booklet which tells how to make and maintain a Creeping Bent lawn. Converting four methods of to Creeping Bent, folder explaining remaking and improving an old lawn by using Bent. Lawn Making and Maintenance. Sixty pages of specific information that will be especially helpful in the building or care of large areas. The Putting Green. An illustrated book telling how to construct and main- tain grass greens. Gratis to greens chair- men, greenkeepers, or any golf club offi- cers. To others at actual cost of 25 cents. There have been twenty-four previous issues of Lawn Care and the following lawn pests have been discussed: Plantain, Crab Grass, Dandelions, Moss, Grubs and Beetles, Chickweed, Buckhorn, Ground Ivy, Yarrow, Earthworms, Heal- all, Ants, Speedwell, Creeping Butter- cup, Sod Web-Worms, Moles, Knot- Grass, Sorrel, Quack-Grass, Spotted Spurge, Yellow Trefoil, Goose Grass, and Nimble Will. For the complete series please allow 10 cents to cover mailing cost.