Montana farmer-stockman. [volume], July 01, 1951, Page 27, Image 27

About Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Water Weed Control
Aromatic Solvents Clear Out
Canals Quickly and Cheaply
By JERRY LESTER, Roving Reporter
THE USE OF aromatic solvents
for killing water weeds in irrigation
canals has proved to be inexpensive
and effective according to Bureau of
Reclamation and bureau of plant in
dustry research workers. Already
much of this chemical treatment has
been done in Montana. This story
tells of two years' experience with
the use of aromatic solvents to con
trol water weeds , in a main canal
supplying a group of Madison county
farms.
"We shouldn't be without the use
of aromatic solvents to get rid of
water weeds in our main irrigation
canal," said Guy George, Madison
county. And he was no doubt speak
ing for all the farmer-owners of the
canal company ditch that goes
through this rich farming area. Wa
ter this ditch would carry was cut
from about 1,200 down to 800 inches
when the water weed infestation
was at its peak. And this period
was also the time when water was
needed the most.
Nightmare Job
The old system used to be a night
mare for the ditch owners. The only
way to do a job was to spend three
or four days working in the ditches,
chopping out this long moss grass.
And this meant standing in water
shoulder high in some places. The
job was so rough that no one could
be hired to do it and the farmers
along the canal ended up taking
valuable time out from other farm
jobs. Then too, the water had to be
reduced in the canal to do any kind
of a satisfactory job, so irrigation
was held up for the period of time
needed to get rid of the weeds.
Now, with the use of aromatic sol
vents, a two-man crew goes down
the entire 12-mile ditch in one day
spraying the chemical into the water
about every mile. A regular cattle
spraying outfit developing 400
pounds pressure is used, with two
guns held under the water on each
side of the ditch bank.
Water in the ditch is reduced by
1/3 during treatment and should
stay at this level for about 24 hours,
thinks George. There must be
enough water in the ditch to float
the weeds for the treatment to be ef
Methods Demonstrated
At Irrigation School
m
Irrigation school for Valley county, one of several held this spring under direc
tion of Harold~Dusenberry, extension irrigation specialist. Boxeman. was at the
8am Reimchs farm. Picture at left shows 6-inch metal siphons with rubber
primers on discharge end being used on border diked grain field. The 97-acre
field seen in background was leveled and diked last fall at a cost of about $90
per acre by a private contractor and with soil conservation district engineering.
Entire field can be irrigated with the border dikes in about four days. At right
■ portable measuring wier is demonstrated by Dusenberry. (MF-S photos)
fective. The spray guns are held in
the water for from 15 minutes to a
half-hour depending on the degree
of infestation in the vicinity.
Weeds Disintegrate
The black liquid chemical turns the
water a milky white. The water
weeds were mostly duck grass, with
long stringers floating on the water
surface. Effect of the chemical is to
turn the grass brown and the stems
white, after which it begins to dis
integrate and float down the canals
with the water.
And does it really work? George
says that the first year the chemical
was used on their ditch, a 90 percent
kill of the duck grass was obtained.
This application was made just after
July 4 when the weeds were still
young and comparatively small. Last
year, however, the application wasn't
made until after Aug. 1. The weeds
were tougher and had stringers 5 or
6 feet long floating down the ditch.
This difference in timing George
thinks was responsible for a less ef
fective job of killing.
Cost $100 for 12 Miles
is reduced for only a short time dur
ing this usually critical dry period.
The cost for treating the 12-mile
long canal was $100 for the aromatic
solvents in liquid form. The price
was 50 cents per gallon, and 100 gal
lons were used to do the job. Effects
of the treatment were seen about 10
days after treatment the first year
and not until at least two weeks after
treatment the second year.
The job has to be done each year,
as the chemical just kills the new
plant growth each time and not the
roots. But there is no question about
worth of the chemical when con
trasted with the $150 to $200 spent
in time of the ditch owners wading
in water up to their necks to cut out
these weeds. Many methods were
tried, including such things as drag
ging a harrow through the ditch bot
tom but nothing would get rid of the
weeds.
With the new one-day job, the
weeds are eliminated, leaving the
canal capable of carrying a full load
of water. And the irrigation water
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