The Botany Section receives many letters containing specimens of marsh cress with requests for information as to methods of dealing with the weed. This is especially the case in years when we have had a wet early spring. The persons sending the plants generally state that the weed is especially abundant in oats.
In such seasons, from the latter part of April to July 1, from 15 to 20 specimens arc received each week

Hayden, A.

King, C. M.

Pammel, L. H.

English

The Botany Section receives many letters containing specimens of marsh cress with requests for information as to methods of dealing with the weed. This is especially the case in years when we have had a wet early spring. The persons sending the plants generally state that the weed is especially abundant in oats.
In such seasons, from the latter part of April to July 1, from 15 to 20 specimens arc received each week.</p

Pammel, L.

King, C.

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University (ISU)

November, 1929 Circular No. 121) Marsh Cress, A Bad Weed DY L. H. PAM:ll[EL, C. Jd. KING, AND A. HAYDEN AORICUIJTURAT~ EXPERillENT STATION IOWA STATl~ COUJEGE OF AGRICUJJTURE AND THB MECHANIC ARTS C. F. Curthu1, Director BOTANY SECTION AMES, IOWA l\1arsh Cress, A Bad Weed BY L. H. PAlnltF.I., C. M. KING AND A. HAYDEN Tlrn Botany Section receives many letters containing speci-mens of marsh cress with requests for information as to methods of dealing with the weed. '!'his is especially the case in years when we have had a wet early spring. The persons sending the plants generally state that the weed is especially abundant in oats. In such seasons, from tl1c latter part of April to July 1, from If> to 20 specimens arc received each week. DESQR'll\Tl01{· OF· M"~R&lt~ ORESS Rmljc11l11 ptil.1t.~fri.'l H~). l\Iocmch A welMc1mw11•;mnual, winter anmtal or,bie)l,'fital, erect mustard closely relitt<t<Fto t1ic:'1)ptsc:rooitih: ·:~~cm n~'lr~y smooth, 1 to ~ feet high or sli!fhHy: ,lJlorc j lctwe~ ~QltJat.h; from 3 to 7 inche<> long, deeply divided or. cfc1t,' flic 'lipper lobes cut into narrow divisions. Flowers sma11, ye1low, in rather dense clusters. Flower stalks as long as the flowers. Pods ovoid. The early stage of the plant is of rosette form. HABITS OF GROWTH Apparently the occurrence of marsh cress is periodic or spor-adic, depending upon the weather conditions of the previous season. It was found to come up quite generally during l!J2'i in meadows, in barley and com fields, and particularly in oat fields, where it seriously interfered with the cutting of the grain. Barley grew so much faster than oats that damage to it from the weed was less. Marsh cress was rarely found in wl1cat fields but was abundant. in com fields. In one alfalfa field near Story City marsh cress completely crowded out the alfalfa. Occasion-ally, it is a weed of pastures. Long wet seasons arc favorable to cres.c; and permit seeds lodged in the soil to make rank growth. 3 Fig. l·A Maroh C:M!a ..tlowlnir flo_,.. and -i pod .. ( l'hot.ograph b)' A. Hardm) SEEDING :\fnrsh crc.c;.<1 prodnec.'l :m enormous number of seeds which ripen with the oats nnd nrc scattered with uncleaned oats. The seed germinatc.c; in hoth fall and spring under f1worahle condi-tions. Buried seeds retain their vitality for some time and may hr. 4 brought to the surface by cultivation. One average-sized plant may shed more than 300,000 seeds in a season. DISTRIBUTION From our studies of the weed this year and p'revious years, marsh cress appears more abundant in northern Iowa than in other parts of the state. It is especially abundant in low or flat areas. Some years ago it was very prevalent in Cerro Gordo and Mitchell counties. It was abundant in 1926 in Allamakee and Clayton counties, especially in little depressions an~ swalcs. Marsh Cress in Boone, Polk, Story, Hardin, Hamilton and Webster Counties In many poorly tilled oat fields on low grounds, marsh cress crowded out oats in 1928. Cress grew freely in many fields where the stands of oats were thin. These oat fields had all been in corn the previous year, the oats having been sown in corn stubble. In Boone County the weed was very abundant in oat fields, especially on lo\V grounds. ' In Polk County, I. E. Forbes and the senior author found many fields infested where the oats had been sown on corn stubble. In fields where oats folJowed crops other than corn and were sown on plowed ground, there was little or none of the weed. Some fields free from the weed were adjacent to fields containing much of it. In some oats fields in Story County there was little else than marsh cress. The individual plants grew so much faster than oats that with their spreading habit they overtopped the oats. In discing the oats on the · -======== stubble the young plants had not been killed. In Polk and Story counties the season was most unfavor-able for putting in oats, con-sequently the cress soon out-grew the oats. There is much flat land in Hamilton County and many low fields between the mo- Fig. l-B. Early fall stage of marsh creaa. rainic hills; in these low (Photograph by A. Hayden) places marsh cress was abundant. 5 Marsh Cress in Marshall, Poweshiek, Mahaska, Wapello and Davis Counties The weed was found to be rather common in Marshall County, especially in low areas and to some extent on high grounds. l\farsh cress was less common in Poweshiek and 1\fohaska counties than in Story and Boone counties, but it occurred in low flat places where it was impossible to disc the corn fields properly for oats. In Polk County, where the oats followed a crop other than corn and where the field'\ had been plowed instead of disced, the weed was not common. Some of this weed also oc-curred in barley fields as in oats in Poweshiek and :Mahas-ka counties. The weed waJi not so abundant in Davis and Wapello counties as in coun-ties to the north. There were a few fieldq with marsh cress. The farmers were unable to put in their oats early on ac-count of the cold and wet spring, and in spite of the late sowing on corn stubble the ·weed did not appear. How-ever the previous conditions of the oat fields and meadows did h · fl th Flir. 2. The ""11nt7o&nnt flncll manh ave some 1n uence on c c...,.. in u.. .. i field&. abundance of the weed. (Photoirraiih i.,. A Ha7den) Survey of Johnson, Muscatine and Iowa Counties Marsh cress was not so abundant in Johnson, 1\luscatine an<l Iowa counties as in Hamilton, Boone, Story and Cerro Gordo counties, altho there were some badly infested fields in each of these counties. As in other parts of the state, it is the common practice here to sow oats in the com stubble. In most seasoni1 much of the marsh cress is killecl by discing. In 1928, however, it was not killed. Weeds of Oat Fields in Iowa, 1927 Oat fields between Iowa City ancl We.qt Liberty were found to be badly infcstccl with cress. The weeds of a number o( 6 these fielcls, gfren in perc>entage of .occurrenee, were as follows: lVcctl.v nf Oat P'idd.v, Jolin.~on Oo1t11t11, J1111c 18, 1921 Marsh cress . .' • . Yellow oxalis . • . Water smartweed (J>olygo11111n ncrc) Lady's thumb • • . Yellow foxtail . • . . Pennsylvania smartweed Tanwee1l ••• Hedge bindweerl Greater ragweed Green foxtall . . Rugel's plantain Small ragweed . Barnyard grass Five-finger Percent 3.33 . 3.65 • 1.04 • 1.04 • 27.08 • 9.99 • 3.12 • 2.60 . 2.60 . lo.40 . 1.04 . 1.56 • 5.98 • 2.60 Horseweed .•. Ground cherry . . Speedwell . . • . Avens ••... Evening primrose • Curled dock . • . Velvet weed . • • Stlcktight . . • • .. ( lli<ln1.v arfato.m) Northern nutgrass . . Pubescent ground cherry Peppergrass . Indian hemp . . Prickly lettuce . Percent 1.56 4.68 1.56 3.12 2.60 .78 1.04 1.56 1.57 .56 1.56 .2fl .26 l\'crrl.~ of Oat J.'frlrl.v, JJ0011c <J01111t11, J11ne JR, 1927. Common milkweed Wlld mustard Marsh cress Curled dock 7 out of 9 fields 7 out of 14 fields 6 out of 8 fields 5 out of 6 fields Percent of fields infested · 78 50 75 83' lVccds of Ont 1"ir1'1.~. Rtom Co11nt11, .Tune JR, 1927 Wlld mustard Milkweed Cm·le1l dock Marsh c1·ess 6 out of 8 fields 6 out of 8 fields 5 out of 9 fields 6 out of 8 fields · Percent of fields infested 75 7S 55 75 ll'twl.v of. Ont Pirlrl.v, Hnmillo11 Om111t11 •• 11111c JR, 1!127 Wlld mustard Mllkweed Curled dock Squirrel-tail Marsh cress 8 out of 10 fields 5 out of 7 fields 5 out of 10 fields 4 out or 6 fields 8 out of 10 fielcls Percent of fields infested 80 72 50 67 80 DISTRIBUTION OF MARSH GRASS IN NORTHERN IOWA, 1927 Cerro Gordo County or fields observed, about 40 percent contained marsh cress in such quantities as to be conspicuous. In fields where cress was not manifest from the road, a few plants were always discovered, usually shorter than the oats. The area occupied by cress varied from 1 to 20 percent. ·of the area of the fields. The soils of the eastern four~firths of the county are derived from the Iowan drift, and the remainder from the 'Visconsin dl'ift. The Wisconsin drift areas, which are knohby and ro1ling, 7 appeared to ha\·e littlo cress on the portions cultivated, which were the higl1er, wen drained tracts. The Iowan drift is traversed by more streams than the Wis-consin drift area, and shanow depres.<Jions are connected by low sections which hold water during the spring rains so that the fields are not wen drained. These deprcs.<Jed areas were marked by rank growths of marsh crcs.<J which sometimes oc-cupied the high flat land as well. Worth County The Wisconsin drift occupies the western half of Worth County and the Iowan the eastern half. Conditions here were similar to those of Cerro Gordo County regarding the occurrence of cres..<J. The Iowan drift territory lie.-; in Kensett and I-'incoln Townships, from Northwood to the southern boundary. About 40 percent of the fields observed in this territory \\'ere ere.<;.-; in-fested. Some fields showed a population of this weed as high a.OJ 80 percent. One such notable field of mixed oats and barley was reported by its owner never to have borne crc.<>.q during n Jlerio<l of years. In this fields a rotation of oats and corn had been practiced for years. It had been fall-plowed for corn the previous year, and had been doubled-disced in the spring in preparation for the oats, which were seeded with a drill. An - - - - - .r I I 1~-- . - - - - - - -- ~:.) IOWA . . . . . . . . .. ---. . . . . . ..... --- -: -- . - - • IJ:. ..... . : . . . "· . . .• . -. . . . . . . -: : ' ,- - -- - - - . • . . .. . . \ . .. . ; ·I: _ .. -. --~ r ~ ~- ·- f . - - - . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. .. ~ - -- ,...--~-· - - 1-: I: i: ,~ . . . . . : .. . . . . .. . . . . . . -~ ... • • • • ;;:;;r-"' -:-• • r:: ~- - ~- - - - - .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. I . . . . . -1 •• r- - ~ ·: r ... r: r.:-r-:-. .. ' . • . . . - - - -. . . . . . . -. . . . . . • . - - - - - ~ - - . . . .. -, .. . . . .. . I I I - - - - - ~ Fl&'. 3. Map or Iowa MC>wlng occurrence or ma.rob """"' .,. Indicated bJ' ._. lmen• reeelTed, and bJ' obioenaUon. 8 adjoining oat and barley field, which was ,seeded in part to alfalfa and to sweet clover this year, bore no cress. Another farmer, who hnd noticed cress in his field in the ·spring, when the oats were ready to come up, double-disced the field with a tractor, setting the disc at half the usual depth. This field at harvest time was clean. In September, 1928, seedlings of marsh cress had appeared in fields in Winneshiek, Howard, Story, Webster, Jasper, Polk, Hardin, Mahaska, Carroll and Greene counties. Observations made over areas of northern and eastern parts of Iowa show the growing practice of plowing and packing dmvn corn fields. This practice kilhi weed seedlings in the fall and will result in the improved conditions of fields, with better crops. CONTROL AND ERADICATION Since marsh crcs.~ has been most abundant and troublesome in oat fields following corn, when much cress is present, the corn stubble fields should be plowed or thoroughly disced before being seeded to oats. The con1 field should be kept clean and when the last cultiva-tion is given the field should be planted to soybeans or some other leguminous crop. As in the case of charlock and other mustards, late fall and early spring cultivation is effective. Cress can also be held in check by application of iron sulfate in the proportion of 100 pounds of sulfate to a barrel of water. Marsh cress is troublesome only when it persists as a winter nmmnl, the plants becoming established in corn fields after the corn crop iR laid by. This occurs when seed is present in the soil nncl rainfall is abundant in the late summer. This summary of field practice is given by H. D. Hughes, head of the Fa.rm Crops Department, Iowa State College: When the field is plowed the young plants arc destroyed, but since land is almost never plowed in Iowa in fitting the seedbed for oats, the crop being seeded broadcast on the stalk ground, the only meth-od of destroying the cress is by t110ro discing when the seedbed is prepared for oats. If the plants are vigorous, this treatment may be insufficient to k.ill the cress and if the plants are very thick it may be more profitable to plant some crop, other than smnll grain, for which the land will be plowed. 

Marsh Cress, A Bad Weed

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Marsh Cress, A Bad Weed

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