Jack Paar and Garry Moore entertained nighttime audiences with prattle of their ineffective battle against it. Cartoonists drew scientists discovering that it was the green layer observed on Mars. In grocery stores, on commuter trains and over back fences throughout the South, East and Midwest, it was a gripping topic of conversation. Subject of all the excitement: Digitaria sanguinalis, better known to the frustrated suburban lawnkeeper as crab grass. In 1959 the wiry, octopus-like weed and its pesky cousins have had a vintage year—and so have the gardening and seed companies that help the homeowner in his never-ending battle...
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