P U B L I S H ED IN F E B R U A R Y, M A R C H, A P R I L, A U G U ST A ND S E P T E M B ER BY O. M. S C O TT A S O NS C O ., M A R Y S V I L L E, O H IO August 1931 F O U R TH Y E AR Number 16 DANDELION DELIRIUM its desire to receive FR E Q U E N T LY Lawn Care states information about methods that have proven most practical and effective in the war with lawn weeds. This affords a fine oppor- tunity for the exchange of ideas. Kerosene for Dandelions From Mr. Charles L. Snider of Belle- fontaine, Ohio, we have this comment: "I have rigged up various remedies but the sure way to kill Dandelions, in my opinion, is to use kerosene. Apply it with a probe which drops a small amount of the solution into the hole after the top of the plant has been cut off. If a few drops of kerosene are put on the root there will be no danger of resprouting. This is the method least likely to injure the grass." Mr. Charles Hindle, 112 Sherwood Place, Joliet, Illinois, tells of another Dandelion cure in the following: "Going through previous issues of 'Lawn Care' and reading of the iron sulphate methods of eliminating Dan- delions and Plantain, I decided to try the plan of hand digging and at the same time applying a small quantity or iron sulphate to the tops of the roots in powdered form. "For a trial I selected a space which seemed to have a larger amount of these pests than usual. An ordinary car- penter's chisel % of an inch wide was used to cut the weeds just below the crown. A small pinch of granulated iron sulphate was applied to the tops of the roots, and covered with a small amount of soil. This was done during April and while the other portions of the yard have had some Dandelions since then, I have not seen a single one of these pests in this selected space." While it is impossible to include all the suggested Dandelion gadgets that are received, here are a few that seem to represent a cross section of the thoughts. Beheading Dandelions "For the Dandelion raisers among your readers it might be interesting that we fought a losing battle until we adopted the procedure of picking the blossoms as soon as they came out. I do not believe more than a dozen have gone to seed in the last three years and Dandelions are the least of our wor- ries."—W. W. Fox, 579 Arbor Vitae Road, Winnetka, Illinois. Tack Puller Another weapon to be used in weed control has been proposed for use by the attacking army. For this suggestion we are indebted to John A. Kunz of Huntington, Pennsylvania: "My favorite weapon is a hand tack puller which may be purchased in any hardware or variety store. The curve of the shaft and the broad blade with the notch in it make it both easy to handle and irresistible to the weeds, cutting off thQ roots several inches below the sur- face, and not injuring the surrounding grass." COPYRIGHT 1931 BY O. M. SCOTT & SONS CO. "Get a long spouted oil can and fill it with gasoline. Put four or five drops on the leaves of the Dandelion so that it runs down into the crown of the plant. In two or three days the leaves turn brown and wither. After a while the plant sends up new leaves which have to be treated again, but the process is better than cutting and much quicker and easier."—J. B. Gibbs, 338 Ormond Avenue, Sharon, Pennsylvania. Ammonium Sulphate Pills Dr. W. F. Burger of 1428 Erie Blvd., Sandusky, Ohio, reports to us that he has mixed up a batch of ammonium sulphate pills. He prescribes a couple of these for the wound produced by cut- ting out a Dandelion. These pills are about the size of ordinary aspirin tab- lets. When this busy doctor stoops occa- sionally to remove a dandelionn from his Bent lawn, he merely drops a pellet or two of ammonium sulphate into the open spot. He finds their use more eco- nomical and cleaner than a pinch of the crystalline ammonium sulphate as there is neither waste nor dirty hands. This not only discourages new sprouting through its burning action but also sup- plies surrounding grass with extra food. Good-natured rivalry has marked the free-for-all contest between two footed enemies of the Dandelion who are vying with one another in trying to find the most novel, yet effective method of administering knock-out drops. One hardly thought as he drove along the highways last spring that the Dandelion had lost any ground. But it is not because of any failure on the part of the public to become aroused. the A recent issue of Better Homes and Gardens contains the following item: " Q U I C K, WATSON, T HE N E E D L E" "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 extermina- tor 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. "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. 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 ap- plied the treatment to Dandelions large and small, incidentally, a few Plantains and other weeds in my lawn, and shortly it was necessary to hunt for these pests instead of finding them at every step. I dug up Dande- lions in various stages of decomposi- tion, and found the roots completely destroyed."—Col. George A. Skinner, Medical Corps, Omaha, Nebraska. including, Mr. E. H. Peterson, editor of Better Homes and Gardens, soliloquizes: "This unique tool rather tickles our fancy. Why do Dandelion tools, more than others, reflect the profession of the user? The home maker cuts them out with her paring knife; the bleathlessly busy business man sprays them away with ammonium sulphate; or iron sul- phate; the doctor punctures them with a hypodermic needle." Or, we might add, prescribes a dose of pills. 16 a