The Rural Voice, 1989-08, Page 36Quality
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34 THE RURAL VOICE
WEEDS:
CONTROLLING A SPREADING PROBLEM
Norman Alexander of
Huron County, who died
last year at the age of 78,
was internationally known
as a champion of conserva-
tion. In 1981 he received
the Soil Conservation
Society of America's Honor
Award, an addition to
several other acknow-
ledgements of his work.
Annually in Huron
County, a conservation
award is presented in his
honour. One project he was unable to complete was a booklet about
the importance of controlling weed seeds, a booklet he planned to
distribute to farm organizations and interested individuals.
"Weed infestations contribute greatly to soil degradation because
of the excessive tillage required, excessive use of herbicides, soil
compaction, and water runoff carrying soil and pollutants into stream
until our water supply is in jeopardy," he said.
Following are some of the concerns and ideas he wished to share.
by Norman Alexander
WHAT TO DO WITH
WASTE LAND?
We are all familiar with the Par-
able of the Tares, in which an enemy
sowed weed seeds in the wheat. We
are our own enemies when we have
huge acreages across Ontario produc-
ing weed seeds that spread into crop
land.
Many years ago, at a meeting
of the Soil and Crop Improvement
Association in Toronto, someone said
that weed seeds are like the germs of
a disease, and as long as germs are
plentiful, disease will be rampant.
Many infectious diseases have been
eradicated, mainly by cleaning up the
source of the germs.
A doctor in England was facing
epidemics of typhoid and cholera, and
observed that all those who were ill
were getting their water from one
particular well, but he was unable to
convince people that polluted water
was the cause of the epidemics. He
took the handle off the pump, and
there were no new cases.
It took decades for a pioneer in
public health, like Britain's Edwin
Chadwick, to prove the link between
contaminated water and cholera and
typhoid. In fact, it required four major
outbreaks in Britain, between 1840
and 1870, to make sanitation a major
preoccupation of government.
Similarly, we should remove the
sources of weed seeds. I hope it won't
take 30 years to meet the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Food's
goal of reducing the use of herbicides
by 50 per cent. (cont'd)