Barberry is an attractive plant that is prized by landscapers for its vibrant foliage. Combined with its attractive leaves of gold, yellow and red, barberry enjoys a reputation for being hardy, low maintenance, and deer resistant.
The hardiness and low maintenance requirements of the plant also cause problems. Barberry, native to central and southern Europe, is an invasive species in the United States. Its berries are widely spread by birds and animals. Barberry is pushing out native plants from the Great Lakes across the Great Plains to the Pacific Northwest.
Barberry is also notorious for spreading wheat rust. In the early part of the twentieth century, two devastating wheat rust epidemics caused alarm. Preventing wheat rust was deemed a national priority. This was not only to protect the national food supply, but also to maintain food exports for American allies during the First World War. The Federal government instituted a barberry eradication program in 1918. The program focused on the northern United States because barberry does not get infected where winters are mild. North and South Dakota had already begun such a program in 1917. Students from the North Dakota Agricultural College were sent out into the countryside to help with the project. By the end of 1918, over a million and a half bushes had been destroyed.
On this date in 1922, the Bismarck Tribune reported on one farmer’s unique approach to eradicating barberry bushes on his property. The farmer, who owned property outside of Dunseith, proudly informed Agricultural College student Frank Roberts that he had dealt with the problem. He said, “I heard that barberries cause wheat rust and I located eight of them in my yard, so I put a stick of dynamite under them and blew them all to pieces.”
At first glance, there seemed to be nothing left of the farmer’s barberry bushes. But upon closer inspection, Roberts discovered a problem. He found nearly a hundred young barberry plants that were sprouting from the root stock that had been scattered over several acres by the explosion. The students had their work cut out for them to eradicate the plants that had been scattered by the dynamite instead of being destroyed.
Dakota Datebook by Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Bismarck Tribune. “Used Dynamite on Barberry.” Bismarck ND. 9/11/1922. Page 1.
- Better Homes and Gardens. “Barberry.” https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/shrub/barberry/ Accessed 9/11/2022.
- Invasive Species. “Common Barberry.” https://invasive-species.extension.org/berberis-vulgaris-common-barberry/ Accessed 9/11/2022.
- Agricultural Research Service. “Black stem rust and the threat to wheat growers.” https://www.ars.usda.gov/midwest-area/stpaul/cereal-disease-lab/docs/barberry/black-stem-rust-biology-and-threat-to-wheat-growers/ Accessed 9/11/2022.
