Walter S Ball and Camel's Thorn

Walter S. Ball's first exposure with weeds was when he was a very young boy. He was born in Aspen, Colorado on March 17, 1898, but soon after the family moved to a homestead in the Southeast part of Colorado, several miles north of the town of Manzanola. While growing up on this 160-acre farm, he became very familiar with hoeing and cultivating. He attended Colorado A & M (now Colorado State University) where he participated in football, baseball, and basketball.

He left school for five years after his freshman year, to run the farm. He said that during this period managing it with his brother "Buster" (Willis E. Ball), was its only profitable time. Walt returned to Colorado A & M and obtained his B.S. degree in forestry in 1927 and an M.S. in 1929 in Botany under Dr. W.W. Robbins. This is where his real beginning in weed control began. Walt and "Doc" Robbins became close friends and following Robbins' move to UC Davis, Walt received a job offer from the California Department of Agriculture to begin a weed control program for the state.

In August of 1929, Walt alerted farmers as to the dangers of the weed Camel’s thorn, Alhagi Camelorum, which is considered the worst weed known to agriculture. The infestation was several years old by then and was thought to have been carried in alfalfa seed. It was a native of Asia Minor and a very noxious weed found in grain fields which a header could not cut. The roots may extend ten feet into the ground and 2 to 4 times this distance horizontally. It sends up new shoots every few inches from its roots.

In 1941, Walt co-authored with Robbins and Margaret K. Bellue, Weeds of California. UCSD has a copy and you can buy a used copy on Amazon for $40. Walter was promoted to the Chief of the former Bureau of Rodent and Weed Control and Seed Inspection. He was instrumental in organizing the California Weed Conference and served as its first and second president (1949 & 1950). Following his retirement in 1962, he served as its Business Manager-Treasurer for seven more years, his commitment was so strong.

Walt passed away on June 7, 1975. He will be remembered as a person who liked people, a leader, an organizer, and someone who liked to get the job done without a lot of "red tape." by Robert R. Ball His son, Bob Ball was a professor of seed certification in the Department of Agronomy at UC, Davis.

I’ve followed both Walter and Jim Ball’s ancestries back ten or more generations and have yet to find an overlap, but ask Jim his feelings towards weeds; it might run in the family.