Introduction and Spread of Johnsongrass in the United States

Abstract

An extensive search of the literature and records was conducted to determine when and how johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense(L.) Pers.) was introduced into the United States. Previous authors surmised that johnsongrass was imported from the Mediterranean area, but my search revealed that no agriculturist from the United States had worked in the Mediterranean region before 1840. Although Dr. James B. Davis assisted the Turkish Empire in cotton culture in the 1840's, there is evidence that johnsongrass was grown throughout the Southeast by 1830 if not before. Documentation of the initial introduction and distribution was hampered by the use of more than 40 common names for this weed in the nineteenth century. At least eight different Latin names were used to identify johnsongrass in the 1800's. The use of johnsongrass as a common name on a national basis resulted from a letter written by Herbert Post of Selma, Alabama, in 1874 to George Vasey, an employee of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Washington. In 1880, John Haralson of Selma, Alabama, wrote to D. L. Phares of Woodville, Mississippi, that johnsongrass was the common name used in his area. These letters were published in the Monthly Report of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and in Farmers Book of Grasses, respectively; the wide attention that these received resulted in the common name of johnsongrass. The name was derived from that of William Johnson, a farmer of Marion Junction, Alabama, who presumably introduced it into Alabama. By the late nineteenth century, the presence of johnsongrass was almost nationwide. Many reports testify to the severity of the problem caused by this weed in the late 1800's. Its pernicious nature led to the first Federal appropriation specifically for weed control in 1900, and to the first report on johnsongrass control, prepared by C. R. Ball in 1902.