Vol. 16—1962 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

The reawakening in aquatic weed control really' began about 1957. In,',
that year the Agricultural Research: Service increasediis research effort.-on
aquatic weeds from about 3 man-years to 9 full-tim. scientists. A contract
was arranged with Auburn University to conduct primelty !ivaluation of 750
chemical compoundS as aquatic herbicides on represeritatlve submersed aquatic
weeds and to check 100 of the most promising of the .. for toxicity to
representative species of fish. Previously, very fe1fof the many thousands
of chemicals tested for herbicidal activity on land weeds had been tested
for effectiveness on aquatic weeds by the chemicallnc1u1try.
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In July 1958, Congress authodsed, under Section 104 of Public Law
85-500, the annual expenditure of $1,350,000 by theU;S. Army Corps of
Engineers and eight Atlantic and Gulf Coast States for the control of alIigatorweed
and other obnoxious aqua'tic plat'lt growth8,lln 'Ibecombined interest
of navigation, flood control,drairtage, agriculture'. fll1h and wildlife conservation,
public ,health, and related purpoaeslrtcludi.ng continued research
fordevelopillent of the most effective and economicoontllol measures. T"e
cooperative research program, "Expanded Project., Aquatic Plant Control,"
which was developed as part of tbis total program,:tnvolve's s:tx Federal and
as early as 192~lnW~sccmsf.n(CI). __Iti. stilltbiL_ai: extensively used
herbicide for control of submersed weeds in lakes and ponds in many parts of
the country despite its toxicity to warm blooded animale.
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During the early 1940's chlorinated benEenes wtreused to some extent
for control of submersed weeds in Ela.tern pOncls and lakes and in western .1.
irrigation canals. Research by Agricultural ResearcH service and Bureau of
Reclamation scientists beginning ,1n 1947 developed.'effective method' of
using xylol-type benzenes, COllllllOftlycalled arOlllat1c' solVents, for contrCiPof
submersed weeds in irrigation canals (2). More than SOO,000 gallons of xYlol
is now used annually for this pUrpose.
The renaissance in general weed control, whlchwes' sparked by the
discovery of the herbicidal properties of 2,4-0 in 1944'and really got uridarway
about 1947, did not have much effect on aquatic weed control or research
until nearly 10 years later. A ·few eXceptions were -'the' research on control
of waterbyacintb with 2,4 ..0 by seYe1:'al Federal and State agenctes beginning
in 1946, the researcb on methode Of controllingweeds'ia western irrigatiOn
systems by the Agricultural Research Service and' Bure'au l of Reclamation .
beginning in 1947, and the research on control of marsh weeds with 2,4-0 by
the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Tennessee Valley Authority beginning
about 1947.
The general lack of interest in aquatic weed e~trol research prior to
1955 is indicated by the fact that less than 2 perce1'lt.f the papers presented
at MOrtheastern, Northcentral, and Southern Weed"Control Conference_
each year were on aquatic weeds. Research subcommittee. on aquatic weeds '.
were not established until 4 to 8:years after general r.search committees
were created. It was only in the Western Weed Cont'rol ¢onference that an;'
early interest was shown in aquatic weed control research. Beginning in
1950, 5 to 10 percent of the papers and research reportS in that conference
were on aquatic weeds and the Research Section incl\1ded' an aquatic weed
subcommittee from its establishment in 1952.
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