A discussion of the vital problems of lawn making and maintenance PUBLISHED SEVERAL TIMES YEARLY BY O. M. SCOTT & SONS COMPANY - SEEDSMEN September 1929 - MARYS VILLE, OHIO No. 5 Vol. II Every Farmer Knows Buckhorn SEEDING TI M E: May to November. TI ME OF BLOOM: April to October. RANGE: Practically the whole of America. fashioned plantain This weed is perhaps less common in lawns than its broad-leaved relative. The old is probably the one weed which everybody knows, but Buck- horn Plantain, readily rec- ognized and despised by all farmers, is not so frequently seen in lawns. In the fall, however, the spindly stems with the seed heads decapi- tated by the mower are all too much in many yards. in evidence not be removed since the Buckhorn is too near the size and weight of clover to permit its separation. MANY SEEDS PRODUCED. An average Buckhorn plant produces about a thousand seeds. As will be noted by the illustration the leaves are oblong, lance shaped and hairy on both sides with a small tuft of brownish hair at the base. The scape or stem is very thin and wiry. The spike at its summit lengthens with the procession of bloom and becomes cylindric and more than an inch long. MEANS OF CONTROL. Small areas of Buckhorn may be treated by piercing each plant to the root with a pointed stick which has been dipped into sulphuric acid, gasoline or carbolic acid. The surest method, of course, is digging or pulling when the ground is damp. Otherwise it is hard to re- move the tough stem, which is usually kinked near the surface. It is unwise to run a lawn mower over a patch of Buckhorn that contains matured seed heads. The tips will simply be stripped of their seeds and your lawn will thus be guaranteed a future crop. It is better to dig out the Buckhorn plants before the lawn is mowed or at least pull off the long stems and prevent some of the shattering. 0 V O L U ME 2 [9] L J BUCKHORN. called R i b - g r a s s, Eng-lish and B l a ck Plan tain. A perennial w h i ch p r o p a g a t es f r om seeds. SEEDS STICKY. inch in A l so The seeds of Buckhorn resemble a date seed in shape. They are probably a sixteenth of an length, brown and some- what translucent. When wet the seeds become sticky or as the botanists say "mucilaginous," a quality which aids in their distribution. It is this very characteristic of the seed which makes it separable from clover. By mixing seed which contains Buckhorn with moist sawdust and then recleaning it the weed seeds will stick to the saw- dust and screen out. Otherwise they can- "The Lawn" —A very informative book just off the press; written by one of the ablest grass growing authorities, Lawrence S. Dick- inson, Assistant Professor of Horticul- ture at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. We have read the book and highly recommend it. There are fourteen chapters containing 128 pages devoted to the whole category of grass growing and maintenance. The publishers' price is $1.25 per copy in quantity. We will keep a supply of these books on hand and send them out singly at the above price, postage paid. Feeding Trees THE tree expert looks with disap- proval upon the action of grass as it takes plant food from the soil for its own subsistence and robs the trees. The seedsman glances skyward and shakes his head as he sees the stately oak living in luxury upon the food which is sorely needed by the struggling grass. Several factors enter in to the problem of establishing turf under trees. It is necessary, first of all, to sow the right kind of grass seed. Then, the grass and trees should be fed at regular intervals. Without enough plant food even the grasses proper for shade cannot survive. The theory of feeding trees is (and we shall be glad to have any tree man tell us his views) that if you give a tree enough food the roots will not come up so near the surface to rob the grass of its necessary supply. The method of feeding trees ordinar- ily employed is briefly described here as follows: The feeding roots of trees are located from the trunk out about as far as the branches spread, in fact, the root devel- [10] V O L U ME 2 opment below the ground usually bal- ances the branch development above the ground. To make plant food easily avail- able to these roots it is necessary to dis- tribute it pretty well underneath the spread of the tree. Probably the easiest way to do this is to dig small holes about 10 to 12 inches deep at various places above the root system. The necessary number of these is four times the number of pounds of fertilizer to be used according to the fol- lowing table: 21/2 pounds * 10 foot trees 16 pounds 25 foot trees pounds 65 50 foot trees 100 foot trees 250 pounds * Distance from tips of branches on one side of tree to tips on oppo- site side. In other words a tree with a 25 foot branch spread would need 64 holes. About one-quarter pound of a good plant food containing a high nitrogen content [Scott's Turf Builder is ideal] should be poured into each hole with an improvised funnel to avoid spilling too much on the grass. This work will not harm the lawn if the sod is carefully cut out with a hand trowel before digging the hole. A crowbar or other sharp pointed tool is best for digging the holes. After the in enough soil should be added to fill up the hole and then the sod can be re- placed without damage to the lawn. fertilizer has been put Most trees need to be fed occasion- ally but those suffering from disease or injury should be fertilized several times during the year. A healthy tree is able to resist the attacks of many insect enemies and diseases. • For further information on this sub- ject you are referred to The Davey Tree Expert Company, Incorporated, Kent, Ohio, who will cheerfully furnish a booklet on this subject.