[Granville-Hough] 19 Jan 2009 - Bitterweeds

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:24:46 -0800
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: 19 Jan 2009 - Bitterweeds

 Bitterweeds.  One of the most obnoxious pests we had in the 1930 decade 
was the bitterweed, probably some version of the sunflower plant.  It 
got into our pastures and took over, crowding out the grass.  Then the 
cattle were forced to eat it to get enough food.  It caused the milk to 
taste bitter, and that milk was hard to drink.  We found we could make 
the bitter milk into buttermilk and butter, and we hardly noticed the 
bitterness.  So we made fresh buttermilk each day and only used fresh 
milk for cooking.
    Bitterweed could be controlled by disking the land, fertilizing, 
then planting deep-rooted grasses or lespedeza.  It could not compete 
with these plants.  When people got enough oil money or war-time 
earnings to do that, the bitterweed problem disappeared.
    One of the annual problems we had with bitterweed was on our Mize 
Grade School campus.  In August, just before school started, someone 
would be hired to mow the campus and remove the bitterweed clippings, 
which they did.  I suppose they threw the clippings into the creek which 
flowed by the campus.  But what they left was the little stalk stumps 
about one inch high and 1/8 inch in diameter, about the same size as a 
sharp upright nail.  This would have been OK if everyone had worn shoes 
or even had shoes, which was not the case.  We started school in August 
before anyone had sold any cotton with which they could buy shoes.  So, 
many children were disabled the first day or in the first week when they 
tried to play bare-footed on the campus of bitterweed stalks.  So I have 
bitter memories about bitterweeds.  I never heard them called 
sneezeweed, but it could be that they were a source of pollen which 
affected those with asthma.