12 i, 



Method No. 4. This is a short rotation which has been recommended 

 by several Farmers' Institute workers. Clover is followed by a crop of 

 grain, then clover again. The clover is cut in June, and the land plowed 

 about four inches deep and given frequent and thorough cultivation dur- 

 ing the rest of the summer. The following spring a grain crop is sown, 

 seeding down with clover. For best results the grain crop should be one 

 which can be cut early enough to prevent the thistle from seeding. 



Method No. 5. Directly after harvest plow the land lightly, and 

 then give frequent cultivation as long as the season permits. The follow- 

 ing spring gang-plow, and leave in summer fallow until it is time to sow 

 fall wheat. The summer fallow to be effective must be a hare fallow. 

 The field must be cultivated thoroughly and frequently, with the object of 

 keeping the tops down and breaking up and bringing to the surface of 

 the ground as many of the "roots" as possible. The gang-plow should 

 occasionally be run over the field in order to insure the cutting of the 

 roots. Bare summer fallow has given excellent results on the College 

 farm in seasons when other methods were at best only partially effective. 



Bladder Campion, Cow Bell or Bladder Weed. 



(Silene in flat a, L.) 



This is another bad weed which is becoming a serious pest on many 

 farms in Ontario and about which a preat many enquiries have been made 

 during the past two years. It is spread chiefly as an impurity in clover 

 seed. A large number of the samples of clover seed, especially those of 

 red and alsike clover, sent to the Department of Botanv this past sea- 

 son for examination as to purity, have been found to contain the seeds 

 of this weed. As it is a free seeder, and very difficult to exterminate 

 once it becomes established, too much care cannot be taken to secure 

 clover seed free from this impurity, and to dig up by the roots and burn 

 any stray specimens that by any means may find their way on to the farm. 



Description. The Bladder Campion (Silene inflata) is a naturalized, 

 deep rooted, freely branching, perennial weed belonging to the Pink 

 Family (Caryophyllaceae). It grows from six inches to two feet high. 

 The leaves are ovate lanceolate, smooth, in pairs with their bases meet- 

 ing around the stem. The flowers are white, nearly an inch in diameter 

 and borne in loose clusters which are often drooping. The petals are 

 two-cleft and the calyx much inflated and bell-shaped, with distinct pur- 

 plish veins. It is from the inflated calyx that the plant derives its com- 

 mon names, Bladder Campion, Bladder Weed, and Cow Bell. The 

 capsule or "seed pod" is enclosed by the inflated calyx and opens at 

 the top by 5 short recurved teeth. This weed flowers from June to 

 August and matures seed from July to September. Large quantities of 

 seed are produced. They are about 1-16 of an inch in length, irregularly 

 kidney-shaped, light brown to dark grey in color, the surface covered 

 with regularly arranged rows of tubercles. Typical seeds show a marked 



