Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2017
One of the most important of the numerous difficulties involved in the successful production of cotton is that of controlling weeds. The fertile soils and humid seasons generally occurring in the Delta, provide optimum conditions for abundant weed growth. During 1951, Missouri cotton producers spent approximately $10,000,000 for hand-labor alone in the production of a $69,000,000 crop. With the exception of Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense L.) and some perennial vines, annual weeds (particularly grasses early in the season), are most troublesome. By far the worst offender under the conditions of the 1951 through 1953 experiments was crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis L. (Scop.).