A discussion of the vital problems of lawn making and maintenance PUBLISHED SEVERAL TIMES YEARLY BY O. M. SCOTT & S O NS COMPANY - SEEDSMEN - MARYSVILLE, OHIO Vol. V F e b r u a ry 1932 No. 1 SHEEP SORREL Rumex Acetosella WE feature in this issue a weed which has been more abundant than usual during the past season, prob- ably as a result of the severe drouth of It will be pointed 1930. out later why such a condi- tion might readily bring a sorrel visitation. SORREL MEANS "SOUR." Sheep Sorrel is a com- mon weed, being perfectly at home in practically every nook and corner of N o r th America. Other names by which it is some- times called are Field Sor- rel, Horse Sorrel, Red Sor- rel, Sour Weed, or simply Sorrel. The word is derived from the German meaning "sour." Reference is made to the sour taste of the leaves and possibly to the juice contained in the stems of the plant. This juice is considered by veterinarians h a r m f ul to horses and sheep. SHEEP SORREL Rumex acetosella EASILY RECOGNIZABLE. The illustration here presented will en- able anyone to identify the plant quickly if it is growing in the lawn. Note par- ticularly the shape of the leaves. The plant is a slender perennial with an abundance of creeping root stalks. There are numerous greenish red flowers, rather inconspicuous and certainly not pretty. In May or June a patch of sorrel is read- ily seen from quite a distance because of the red mass of ripening seed heads. Each plant produces thousands of small triangular seeds about the size of a white clover seed. As a result it is usually in clover that seeds of sorrel are found and from which it is impossible to separate them. Inferior grades of white clover seed are fre- quently the hiding place for sorrel and doubtless many lawns have been thus infested. HELPLESS IN GOOD SOILS. It has been discovered that sorrel is most likely to be found in dry, worn- out and acid soils. This is not because sorrel prefers such soil for, naturally, it grows best in fertile, well- drained soils just as do other plants. In good soils, however, it cannot compete with other plants. Follow- ing a season of unusual drouth sorrel may be found in fertile soils but otherwise its presence is a rather good indication of impoverishment and lime deficiency. HOW TO CONTROL SORREL. Like most strongly acid plants sorrel VOLUME 5 [ 1] may be killed with chemical sprays. Prob- ably the most satisfactory from the standpoint of safety to the grass is Iron Sulfate (Copperas), the same as used in dandelion control. The proper strength for the spray solution is pounds of Iron Sulfate to one gallon of water. It may be applied with an ordinary spray pump or even with a watering can if the outlet holes are quite small. Spraying with this solution will prevent seed pro- duction. If the plants send out new leaves after the spray has been used a second treatment will finish the job. is of course most practical Spraying when sorrel occurs in patches in an other- wise good stand of grass or when it is growing around rocks or fences. Where not abundant it may be weeded out by hand. LIME. Other means of checking sorrel are: fertilizing the grass so it will get the up- per hand (sorrel can nearly always be smothered out by a heavy growth of grass) or by applying lime where soils are known to be deficient in it. is the ground Ground limestone, which is the best kind to use, should be applied during the winter when frozen. Ground limestone is slow acting and needs weathering before it will modify the soil condition. It may be used at the rate of 20 pounds per 1000 square feet. Hydrated lime is quick acting and so not more than 15 pounds per 1000 square feet should be applied. This type is preferable if necessary or advisable to make the application in early spring or fall. More About Earthworms " ^ S ^ OU A S K ED for contributions of A experience on exterminating earth- worms. We have had our trouble with earthworms for years in our lawn. We are located on a hill under a heavy oak shade and we have found that Mowrah Meal gives best results."—W. E. S H A R P, Chicago, 111. [ 2] VOLUME 5 Thank you, Mr. Sharp, for giving us the benefit of your experience. In L A WN C A R« for June-July, where- in earthworms were featured, we inten- tionally omitted the Mowrah Meal remedy because we felt the other "killers" were more easily obtainable. However, to make the worm story complete we add this paragraph: Mowrah Meal consists of the ground seeds of the madhuca tree of the East Indies. The oil in the seeds is first pressed out. When fresh this meal is a very ef- fective worm killer and may be applied to the grass in a dry condition at the rate of 15 pounds per 1000 square feet. The grass should then be freely watered. Mowrah Meal deteriorates with age es- pecially when stored in a damp place. In such condition it is ineffective. It has the advantage of being comparatively harm- less to man and for this reason many people prefer it to poisonous killers. Fighting Weeds A BULLETIN published back At the Source in 1911 by the Maryland State Ex- periment Station contains this very perti- nent comment: "The question of pure seed is a very important o»e in weed con- trol. There is scarcely any agricultural question of more vital importance than the question of good seed; none in which slighter differences can have greater in- fluence upon the result; none in which there is greater opportunity for fraud. Nearly all our bad weeds have been in- troduced in seeds of various crops, espe- cially in grass and clover seed. Weeds are being carried every year to new locali- ties in this way. One should be on the constant look out, and no seed should be sown without a careful examination for weed seeds."