4D4 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



4 GEORGE V., A. 19H 



irter to one-half an inch in length. (See illustration, plate XXI, fig. 1.) The 

 Thorny Amaranth, like the Russian Thistle and other plants possessing sharp spines, 



likely to cause much irritation to horses and to labourers working in the fields. 

 When cut and dried with the hay and afterwards eaten by cattle and horses, the spines 

 enetrate the mucous membrane and may cause serious inflammation. 



Acroptilon Picris DC. 



The bright white seeds found in Turkestan alfalfa, which have boon identified as 

 Avroptilon picris DC, and of which there is a short description in Bulletin SO. issued 

 by the Seed Branch, are familiar to all seed merchants and others handling Turkestan 

 alfalfa. But it is not so well known that this I will produce a vigorous perennial 

 plant, capable of withstanding the winters at Ottawa. The plant produces a long, 

 horizontal, underground rootstock which -ends up new shoots at each node. From si>: 

 to ten new plants are produced by the parent plant in this manner. Tbe stem and 

 leaves are covered with a hoary pubescence, which gives to the plant a dull whitish- 

 green colour. The lower leaves are long, narrow and deeply pinnatind. The up 

 leaves are more sparingly and :< 3S deeply cut. 



Hieracium aurantiacum L. (Orange Hawkweed) and Allied Species. 



On the 27th of June, 1912, there was issued by this Division, 

 circular on 'Orange Hawkweed.' This circular was printed in the form of a card 

 with a coloured illustration of the weed. A brief account of the life history of the weed, 

 together with the best methods for its eradication, was printed in large type on the 

 card. Forty thousand copies of these cards were published and distributed, chiefly in 

 the Province of Quebec, where the weed is most prevalent. The difficulty of eradi- 

 cating this pest may be overcome with the co-operation of the farmers. Most farme 

 will agree that is more readily destroyed than Couch or Twitch Grass. Paint-brush 

 will not long exist on well cultivated and well fertilized land. Shallow ploughing, har- 

 rowing and thorough cultivation repeatedly practised throughout the autumn, fol- 

 lowed by a rotation of crops into which hoed crops largely enter, will keep it under 

 control. The weed thrives best on poor land and in rocky pastures which cannot be 

 cultivated. In this case sheep will eat it close to the ground. There is no portion of 

 Canada better suited to sheep-raisins' than the hilly sections of the Eastern Town- 

 ships. Salt, if applied in hot, dry weather, is another sure means of killing it. 



The bright red-orange flowers of this species are easily distinguished from the 

 yellow flowers of the Many-flowered Hawkweed, and the King Devils which, although 

 not so abundant, are, in themselves, none the less troublesome. The many-flowered 

 Hawkweed (77. floribundum Wiram. and Grab.) produces leafy secondary flowerin? 

 shoots as well as stolons or runners. The King Devils (II. pratense, 77. praealtum var. 

 decipiens) are. of similar growth, that is, they are reproduced both by runners and 

 seeds. The same method of treatment as recommended in the case of 77. aurantiacum 

 will exterminate these. 



The Mouse-ear Hawkweed (77. Pilcsella L.), which is a troublesome weed on 

 lawns, is a shorter and smaller species. It bears a solitary, pale yellow flower some 

 what resembling a small dandelion, but the close mat of small, entire leaves at th - 

 base of the flowering stalk as well as its runners, proclaim it to be a Hawkweed. 

 Several patches of this weed in the arboretum wore entirely destroyed by a single 

 application of coarse salt. 



The following weeds were sprayed with a solution of iron sulphate, 2 lb. per 

 gallon of water: — Ox-eye Daisy, Fiold Bindweed, Heal-all, Dandelion and Sedum. 

 Afler the third application these weeds were still living, although much of the folii 

 was destroyed. As the injury to the surrounding grass was greater than that to the 

 weeds, the spraying was discontinued. 



