Probably no range weed has received such immediate and widespread attention as halogeton (Halogeton glomeratus (M. Bieb.) C. A. Mey.) following the large losses of sheep caused by this plant in 1949. Halogeton was first identified in the United States from a specimen collected south of Wells, Nevada, in 1934 (5). Its poisonous properties were discovered in 1942 (7). The time and method of its introduction into the United States are unknown. It is known to be a native of the arid and semiarid plateau regions east of the Caspian Sea and to extend into northwestern China and southwestern Siberia and southward as far as the highlands of Afghanistan and northwestern India.

The problem of herbicide volatility has been with us for several years, and promises to remain with us for some time. Mullison, et al. (4) in 1953 pointed out the reasons why physical measurements of herbicide volatility were impractical. Their arguments that the phenoxy herbicides generally have a low order of physical volatility and that analytical methods are insufficiently sensitive to measure the amounts of such herbicides which escape through volatility are still valid.

In the recent past, the various plant species which are lumped together in the general class of aquatics have received considerable attention from workers in the field of weed control because of their importance in affecting water usage in irrigation, water reservoirs, transportation, and recreational facilities.

The low-volume technique of spray application, which has gained such wide acceptance since the development of the phenoxy-type herbicides, has created problems which did not exist with the highvolume spraying techniques used with contact-type materials. Frequently, when spray applications of systemic herbicides are made, there is only a very narrow margin between the amount of chemical required to kill the weeds and the amount which injures the crop plants. There is evidence that the physical characteristics of both the spray and the plant surface influence some of the responses of plants to herbicides (1, 4, 6, 7). Smith (9) has shown that a surprisingly small percentage of the spray discharged from a nozzle is intercepted by plant surfaces and that the size of the spray particles affects total amount of material retained by the plant. Droplet size is also important since susceptible plants are often injured by small quantities of herbicide which can drift for miles. Moreover, there is evidence that certain plants respond differently to various sizes of spray droplets (3, 5).

The gross annual wholesale value of Easter lilies and other ornamental bulb crops grown in the United States in 1950 was estimated at 9.2 million dollars. Because of the high per-acre value of these crops, intensive management is practiced in an effort to produce maximum yields of high quality flowers and bulbs at minimum costs.

The herbicide isopropyl N–(3–chlorophenyl)carbamate (CIPC) has been found to be effective in controlling annual grasses when applied as a pre-emergence treatment. This herbicide is also very effective in controlling chickweed (1, 9, 12) and grasses in dormant alfalfa (11).

Successful use of selective herbicides is dependent upon differences in susceptibility between the crop and the weeds. Often the cause and magnitude of these differences is not completely known. Intelligent use of a chemical requires some knowledge of the margin of safety between the weed and the crop. Beneficial modifications of existing chemicals or methods of application could be most efficiently accomplished if the cause of the differences in susceptibility to the chemical were known. The alkanolamine salts of 4,6–dinitro o secondary butylphenol (hereinafter referred to as DNBP) have shown variability in their toxicity to various plant species. This investigation is concerned with the degree and possible causes of this variability.

Interactions among the components of an herbicidal solution may take place (a) in the solution itself, (b) at the plant surface or within tissues to influence absorption and translocation, and (c) at the cellular site of toxic action. This broad meaning of the term interaction is employed in the present report. Similarly, the meanings of antagonism and synergism are considered as inhibition and enhancement, respectively, of the toxic action of one substance due to the influence of another, regardless of the location and nature of the interaction.

In many types of weed control experiments most economical progress can be made by visual rating of the plots. While such ratings are admittedly somewhat subjective, this does not necessarily mean that the results are less accurate or less satisfactory than methods which profess to be quantitative. For example, counting thistle sprouts in a square-rod area may show more sprouts in a treated plot than in the check because the herbicide used resulted in a number of weak sprouts replacing every strong sprout killed to the ground line. If only counts are made, the data will look as if no progress was being made, while if both the strength and number of sprouts are rated the actual situation will be much more nearly approximated.

One of the more common methods of analysis for 2,4–dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,–D) is the one using chromotropic acid as the color developing reagent (1). In this laboratory it was found that it was difficult to obtain relatively pure chromotropic acid or its disodium salt. As an approach to the preparation of a purer compound, several experiments were tried.

In extensive experimental studies with peanuts in Georgia, satisfactory results have been obtained with the pre-emergence herbicide, sodium 2,4–dichlorophenoxyethyl sulfate (sesone) (3, 4). During the past 3 years, the use of sesone for weed control in peanuts has been generally satisfactory and its use as a general farm practice in Georgia has greatly increased. When emergence was poor and the sesone was being used for the first time, some growers were very ready to place the entire blame for poor stands on the herbicide, without considering that poor emergence could, as in the past, result from a variety of other causes.

Goatweed, Hypericum perforatum, has long been considered among the most serious of weeds attacking the western ranges. It not only dominates large areas of range land, thus reducing the kind and amount of native forage, but it has poisonous properties as well. Livestockmen had good reason to bless the Chrysolina family of beetles and the men who pioneered their introduction into the goatweed infested range county. They are doing a marvelous job of reducing this weed.

An announcement has been received of the Crop Protection and Pest Control Exhibition to be held at the Royal Horticultural Society's New Hall, London, England, May 12 to 15, 1958. Further information can be obtained from John Wheatley, The Crop Protection and Pest Control Exhibition, Leonard Hill House, Eden Street, London, N. W. 1.

In the field of weed control many complications are encountered as the program is carried out. In order to make progress, the combined efforts of research, extension, industry and the regulatory forces are necessary to provide the farmers and other people concerned with weed control with the information and material required by them to carry out an effective program. Research workers must provide us with their findings so that proven practices and techniques for controlling grassy and broadleaf weeds can be used.

It has been reported that the frequency of mowing lawns in some areas of the United States can be markedly reduced by the application of maleic hydrazide (3). Other investigators have reported a retardation of growth but no reduction in number of mowings and a scorched appearance (1, 2). To determine whether this practice is practical under tropical conditions, an experiment was conducted utilizing a number of important tropical lawn grasses.

The 4th Annual Convention of the Hawaii Weed Conference was held in Honolulu May 27 and 28, 1957. It was attended by personnel interested in weed control from the sugar and pineapple plantations, ranches, utilities, industry, the Armed Services, the Board of Agriculture and Forestry, the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Service, Pineapple Research Institute and Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association.

Kansas has just completed the twentieth year of its organized program for the control of noxious weeds. The Kansas Noxious Weed Law was passed in 1937 by the State legislature. At that time, field bindweed, Vonvolvulus arvensis, was recognized as a menace to agriculture and the law was passed to provide for an organized fight against this weed. The law at that time contained provisions only for control and eradication measures of that one weed. In 1945, it was foreseen that a program which did not include “preventive” measures was inadequate. Provisions were then added to the law which made it unlawful to sell or offer for sale, unless processed to destroy the viability of the noxious weed seeds, grain and hay (livestock feed material), screenings, nursery stock, soil and sod containing seeds of noxious weeds.

The second General Business Meeting of the Weeds Journal of Weed Society of America (WSA) was held at the Hotel Peabody, Memphis, Tennessee, at 4 pm, January 13, 1958. The meeting was called to order by W. B. Ennis, Jr., President of the Society. He expressed his appreciation for the excellent work of the various Standing and Special Committees and especially for the full cooperation that he had received from the membership of the Society. He emphasized that the Society exists to serve the needs of the members, and that the ideas and suggestions of the members should be continuously solicited in an effort to improve WSA.