P U B L I S H ED F I VE T I M ES Y E A R LY BY O . M . S C O TT & S O NS C O ., M A R Y S V I L L E, O H IO D I S T R I B U T ED F R EE TO L O V E RS OF B E A U T I F UL T U RF September 1938 E L E V E N TH Y E AR Number 52 WILD GARLIC THIS weed is a perennial introduced from Europe. Other names by which it is known are Wild Onion and Crow Garlic. inhabits moist, sandy loam soils and may be found almost anywhere from Massa- chusetts to South Carolina and west to the Missouri River. It ordinarily Here is another weed which has in recent years been moving in from the country to take up residence in town and city lawns. As a country weed it has been especially objectionable in fields and pastures be- cause the flavor it imparts not only ruins the sala- bility of milk but actually permeates the flesh of ani- mals. This weed also in- flicts a heavy loss to grain, especially wheat, from which it is said to exact a million dollars annually. So obviously, Wild Gar- lic or Wild Onion, which it is frequently called, has been blacklisted as a nox- ious weed In most states that it infests. The same persistence which makes this weed troublesome in fields and pastures makes it equally pestiferous in lawns. While not as yet a com- mon visitor in many sec- tions, it bears watching. (Allium Vineale) in the flowers having Full grown plants of Wild Garlic are from one to three feet tall. They spring from small, rhembranous-coated bulbs resembling onions. The leaves are slim, deep green and tubular. There is a bloom as shown illustration, consisting of a dense cluster of small, pinkish-purple six pointed stems or segments. Below the flower-head are two papery pointed leaves which soon fall away. As the flow- ers wither, their places are taken by aerial bulbs, each about the size of a wheat kernel and tipped with a whisker nearly an inch long. The number of aerial bulbs in a seed-head varies from twenty-five to a hundred. Below the ground there are secondary bulbs or "cloves." These develop at the base of the old bulb and in the fall form thick tufts of young plants which remain green all winter, ready to repeat the cycle of growth in the spring. When kept at lawn length, it is quite possible the aerial bulbs may never have an opportunity to develop but the weed propogates itself by means of the secondary bulbs, a feature which makes it trouble- some in lawns. that A fully ripened plant of Wild Garlic. Note the several fea- tures mentioned in the de- scription. COPYRIGHT. 1 9 3 8. BY O. M. SCOTT & SONS CO. Means of Control Hand pulling just at flowering time is a good control measure if the plants are not too numerous. The ground must be very soft and care taken not to leave any of the ground bulbs. Quicker and more elective is the use of crude Car- bolic Acid applied with a common ma- chine oil can; a few drops on a plant or a sprinkle on the tuft will kill it. The acid should be very little if at all diluted. An infestation of Wild Garlic in a Pennsyl- vania farm lawn. Rapid growth puts this weed far ahead of the turf it infests. This treatment is especially effective if given before the grass has started or even before the ground thaws in the spring. Feeding and liming (if the soil is very acid) will also prove helpful in enabling desirable grasses to crowd out this weed. In recent experiments the Green Sec- tion of the U. S. Golf Association has employed tear gas (Chloro-picrin) in fighting the Wild Garlic pest in lawns. A few drops of this potent liquid are placed by means of an eye dropper or similar instrument on each tuft of the Weed early in the spring. The "mob-quelling" gas usually out- smarts this highly odoriferous plant and a cleaner turf results. Such an offensive attempted unless a gas mask in good working order is available. should not be Camomile Lawns Certain horticultural lawns. While this publications have set many folks agog lately with articles about Camomile, Turfing Daisy, Trefoil and the like, as substi- tutes for grass is very old stuff, it bobs up occasionally and creates a mild furore until another generation of homemakers has learned the facts. Since these turfing plants present the same general case, we shall confine these few remarks to Camo- mile since it is an oldtimer. in Back the days of the Louis', Camomile lawns were quite the thing in France. Seed of the plant is avail- able there for something in the neigh- borhood of $16 a pound ($1.50 per ounce.) These lawns were also used long ago in England but they have been superseded by lawns of grass. To- day the turf publications in those coun- tries where Camomile lawns were once common are making no mention of them at all. Home owners are more particular about their lawns now. The modern lawn in its perfect state must be both weedless and flowerless. To save readers of LAWN CARE any costly mistakes, we are gathering all the available data on Camomile and other turfing plants and will present them for your guidance before the planting season next spring. Meanwhile, we repeat a bit of advice on which no home owner can go wrong. Your State Experiment Station and the Department of Agriculture in Washington are either making tests of turf or are in constant contact with all such projects. Any practical advance- ment in the realm of fine lawns is most apt to originate at these sources.