. Bulletin. 1901-13. Agriculture; Agriculture. EXTERMINATION OF JOHNSON GRASS. 21 between the tracks of the teeth. At the same time, when these teeth are all placed in one row, they bank up the soil in front of them and do not allow the implement to pass through properly. On loose, sandy soil the teeth in the same row must be at least 6 inches apart; on ordinary loam soil, 9 inches; and it is probable that on heavy clay soil the}7 would have to be a foot apart. From plans furnished by Mr. Gay the implement shown in figure 4 was constructed. This implement has two rows of teeth so set that when
. Bulletin. 1901-13. Agriculture; Agriculture. EXTERMINATION OF JOHNSON GRASS. 21 between the tracks of the teeth. At the same time, when these teeth are all placed in one row, they bank up the soil in front of them and do not allow the implement to pass through properly. On loose, sandy soil the teeth in the same row must be at least 6 inches apart; on ordinary loam soil, 9 inches; and it is probable that on heavy clay soil the}7 would have to be a foot apart. From plans furnished by Mr. Gay the implement shown in figure 4 was constructed. This implement has two rows of teeth so set that when viewed from the rear the teeth are only 4| inches apart, but it did not remove the roots from the soil nearly so completely as did the grass hoe (fig. 2). We are now constructing a new form of the implement shown in figure 4, having three rows of teeth, those in the same row being 9 inches apart, and the rows so set that the teeth make tracks only 3 inches apart. As soon as a practicable implement has been evolved the details of its construction will be made public. The roots col- lected by the teeth of the root digger are easily dumped by tilting the implement on end, first one way and then the other. The tilting may be done by means of the handles without stopping the team. In the course of these investigations several different types of machines have been constructed and tried. One of these was con- structed on the prin- ciple of the ordi- nary sulky hay rake, but having rigid steel teeth so set as to draw into the loose soil about 4 inches deep. The amount of labor in- volved in working this machine seems to render it imprac- ticable: besides, it would be quite expensive. We are endeavoring to evolve an implement that can be constructed by any local smith. It is probable that a heavy drag harrow could be made to take the place of a root digger such as that used in these experiments. While it would not remove the roots from the soil so completely as the root digger and woul
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