6/15/2009:
On this date in 1946, one E. G. Wanner, known as Cap, was embroiled in vicious battle. Daily, he marched out to check on the battle, and to make his plans. For Cap, the battle was "war-strictly personal," and he was ready to fight for the finish. Except that this battle was close to home—it took place on the State Capitol Grounds in Bismarck. Cap, who was superintendent of the grounds, had declared war on dandelions—the "blight of the Capitol lawn."
That year's crop of the sunny, yellow flower, which some people eat, some find cheerful, and even more people hate, had been particularly bad that year, and the flowers had "clotted the entire lawn," thousands upon thousands threatening to spread even more seeds for the upcoming year.
So Cap, with the help of County Agent L. H. Stahler from the Federal Bureau of Plant Industry, and Lars A. Jensen, a state extension agronomist, staked out a test area in one of the most heavily infested sections of the lawn. He divided it into sections, and treated each part with one of several selective broad-leafed plant killers. Some sections were also treated with fertilizer to determine if that would aid the grass as the weeds were killed off. This vicious battle, man to weed, was monitored for the next three weeks.
When the testing was done, Cap planned to use the winning combination on the entire capitol lawn to eradicate the problem. Obviously, Cap did not quite find common ground with Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote "What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
Bismarck Tribune, June 14, 1946, p. 7