Killing Weeds in Corn.

Manawatu Herald, 10 August 1897, Page 3

Killing Weeds in Corn.

A very important discovery of a new method of destroying weeds in yonng corn is announced by M. Hiiier, in the Journal d' Agriculture Pratique—namely, that of spraying them with a solution of sulphate of copper. Attention was first directed to the plan by a vine grower, who noticed, when spraying his vines, that certain wild plants accidentally sprinkled with the copper solution were killed. He communicated the fact at a meeting held at Reims on December 12th, and this spring it has been tried by at least two agriculturists. One-: of them, M. Jules Benard, found that the dressing caused charlock to turn black first, and then white, and if ' the weeds did not perish, they were prevented from further development, and consequently from the production of flowers and seed. Another tried the dressing in fields of wheat and oats infested with charlock and thistles, and while the corn continued to grow vigorously, the two weeds perished, except in one field, where rain fell abundantly in the night after the application ; and even there the weeds were so nearly killed that they were no longer dangerous. He used what is known as a 5 per cent, solution of sulphate of copper, and he applied 210 gallons of the solution on an acre. As there is nothing in farming more difficult than getting j rid of charlock, where land is infested • with it, experiments on a small scale might well (says an English paper) be tried at once in this country. But, as it seems strange that sulphate of copper, without lime to neutralise the acid, should not harm cereals in growth, the first trials in this country should be on small patches of corn infested with the weeds mentioned.