A  discussion  of  the Vital problems  of lawn making and maintenance 

PUBLISHED  SEVERAL  TIMES  YEARLY  BY 

Vol.  IV 

O.  M. SCOTT  8t  SONS  COMPANY 

-  SEEDSMEN 
September  1931 

-  MARYS VILLE,  OHIO 

No. 5 

KNOT  GRASS 

Thrives  Best  Where 

Treated  Worst 

THE  NAME  sounds  worse  than  the 

weed  proves  to  be  in  most  lawns. 
It  is  a  social,  almost  domesticated  weed 
which  seems  to  thrive  best  where  con-

grass.  It  is  both  annual  and  perennial, 
propagates  by  seeds  between  July  and 
September,  and  may  be  found  nearly 
everywhere  in  North  America  as  well  as 
in  Europe  and  Asia. 

The  stems  of  Knot  Grass  are  slender, 
pale  green,  faintly  ridged,  and  usually 
prostrate.  Some  of  the  stems  from  a  sin-
gle  plant  will  vary  from  four  inches  to 

KNOT  GRASS,  Polygonum  Aviculare 
Illustration  courtesy  o f N ew  Jersey  Experiment  Station 

stantly  trampled  and  abused.  It  is  apt 
to  persist  in  garden  walks,  borders,  and 
along  city  walks. 

Knot  Grass  is  known  by  other  names 
such  as  Doorweed,  Knotweed,  and  Mat-

two  feet  in  length  and  will  branch  out 
in  all  directions.  Smaller  branches  come 
out  at  many  of  the  numberless  knots. 
There  are  small  flowers,  greenish  white 
with  pink  margins  sitting  both  solitary 

VOLUME  4 

[ 9] 

and  in  groups  of  two or  three. 

Aside  from  the  Prostrate  Knot  Grass 
which  is shown  in  the  illustration  because 
of  its  greater  prevalence,  there  are  other 
species  such  as  Erect  Knot  Grass  and 
Bushy  Knot  Grass.  Erect  Knot  Grass  is 
sometimes  found  growing  with  the  Pros-
trate  variety.  They  resemble  each  other 
except  that  the  Erect  as  the  name  indi-
cates grows upright  and  often to a  height 
of  four  inches  to  a  foot.  The  Bushy 
Knot  Grass  is  quite  similar  to  the  Erect 
yet  it  is  more  certain  to  be  found  in 
sandy  soil  usually  from  Maine  to  New 
Jersey  and  in  the  West  from  Minnesota 
to  the  Northwest  Territory. 

Prostrate  Knot  Grass  grows  so  close 
to  the  ground  that  it  is  difficult to  cut  it 
with  the  mower,  otherwise  it  would  be  a 
very  easy  weed  to  suppress.  It  is  not 
deep  rooted  so  may  easily  be  removed 
by  hand  pulling  or  hoeing.  The  other 
types  of  Knot  Grass  which  grow  upright 
will  soon  disappear  if  mowed  frequently 
and  not  allowed  to  go  to  seed. 

Knot  Grass  should  be  removed  from 
lawns  now  if  it  is  present  to  any  extent. 
New  seed  should  not  be  allowed  to  re-
infest  the  ground. 

There  are  no  chemicals  effective  in 
Knot  Grass  control.  We  feature  it  in 
L A WN  C A RE  more  for  identification  than 
with  the  thought  of  setting  forth  some 
easy  method  of  destruction. 

Black  Ants  Chased 
"We  are  bothered  with  large  black 
ants,  and  I  find  that  by  putting  a  few 
drops  of  turpentine  in  each  ant  hill  and 
repeating  the  process  the  following  day 
then  spraying  around  the  ant  hill  with  a 
solution  of  Arsenate  of  Lead,  the  pests 
will  leave."—FRED  I.  OBERTING,  8 58  S. 
Cassingham  Rd.,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

[ 1 0]  VOLUME  A 

M oreBad  NewsforMoles 
A MOST  ENTHUSIASTIC  recep-

tion greeted  the July  issue of  L A WN 
C A RE  in  which  Moles  played  the  lead. 
We  are  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  print  in 
detail  all  the  letters   received,  some  in 
appreciation  of  the  data  presented  and 
others  explaining  additional  methods  of 
execution.  We  submit  them  briefly  as 
follows: 

"Sixty  grains  of  Strychnine  Sulfate  to 
one  ounce  of  water.  Soak  about  a  dozen 
grains  of  corn  in  this  solution  for  24 
hours  then  deposit  2  or  3  grains  in  run-
way  every  6  to  8  feet.  It  positively  kills 
them."—Theodore  Bange,  M.D.,  214 
W.  McCullan  St.,  Cincinnati,  O. 

"Mix  3  parts  cornmeal  and  1  part 
Hellebore.  Push  stick  into  mole  runway 
and  drop  half  teaspoonful  of  above  bait 
into  it.  Place  small  stone  over  opening 
to  keep  out  light.  Do  this  every  three 
feet."—R.  H.  M.,  San  Francisco,  Calif. 
"Powder  Paris  Green  or  London  Pur-
ple  over  half  inch  squares  of  raw  meat." 
Place  in  runways  as  above.—L.  R.  F., 
Emporia,  Kas. 

"Apply  teaspoonful  of  flake  naptha-
lene  or  household  lye  in  mole  runways 
at 
intervals  of  about  20  feet."—Ohio 
State  University  Bulletin. 

"Use  1  ounce  of  Strychnine 

to  1 
pound  of  raisins.  Mix  well  and  run 
through  meat  grinder.  Put  piece  size  of 
hazel  nut  in  every  mound.  Leave  holes 
open.  Re-open  holes next  day  and  rebait. 
Soon  the  whole  mole  family  will  be 
gone."—W.  G.  Hannam,  Portland,  Ore. 
"You  might  be  interested  to  know 
that  I  have entirely  rid  my  lawn  of  moles 
by  opening  up  the  runways,  putting  in 
about  a  teaspoonful  of  pepper  from  a 
shaker  and  closing  up  the  runway  again. 
We  have not a  mole  in  any  of  our  lawns. 
I  don't  know  where  they  go  but  they 
go  quickly."—A.  P.  Whittemore,  Sara-
nac  Lake,  N.  Y,