ABOUT DODDER 209' 



live over until the next year. Ordinarily.however, this does not take 

 place, and so if every dodder plant in the field is killed and it produces 

 no seeds the field will be rid of the pest. 



Dodder iu Clover. 



The specimen which one correspondent sends is that of the Clover 

 Dodder, and it shows that he has a difficult problem on his hands. For 

 many years in the United States the clover was entirely free from the 

 Dodder, although it was badly affected in many parts of Europe. Some- 

 thing like fifteen or twenty years ago the dodder began to appear in the 

 United States in considerable numbers and its increase has been quite 

 rapid, until now there is probably not a state in the Union where the 

 clover is not more or less troubled with it. 



The dodder is a flowering plant closely related to the morning- 

 glory and like the morning-glory it twines around whatever it reaches. 

 The morning-glory, however, when it starts from the seed sends its 

 root into the ground and begins to gather nourishment from the soil, 

 "While tLe dodder allows its root to die very soon after it gets a start. 

 In fact, the root of the dodder is used only long enough to give it a 

 little start, and when the vine has begun to twist itself around the clover 

 it loses its own root, and from that time on it allows itself to live en- 

 Irely on the clover from which it sucks out the food matter it needs. 

 If my correspondent will examine a fresh specimen, he will find that 

 where the dodded twists around the clover stem, it sends in little suckers 

 by means of which it steals nourishment from the clover. 



He need not be afraid that there is any poison in this dodder plant. 

 It does not hurt the hay, although I suspect it does not add to its value 

 in any way. However I imagine that it is very necessary he get rid of it 

 because it will spread, otherwise, throughout his whole farm, and make it 

 impossible for him to grow clover with success. For this reason the 

 stock should not eat hay filled with this dodder because the seeds, which 

 are much smaller than clover seeds, will be scattered in this way all 

 over the farm. 



The only thing that can be done to get rid of this pest is to mow out 

 the patches affected and when they are dry to burn them. In this way 

 the seeds would be burned. This should be done as soon as the dodded 

 appears in the field. 



Dodder Is Increasing. 



It is interesting to notice that specimens of dodders in clovers and 

 alfalfas are coming in more and more every year. Twenty-five years ago 

 clover dodder was almost wholly unknown, and I was very much aston- 

 ished once in Iowa about that long ago to have specimens sent to me from 

 the southern part of the state. They were, however, not of the species 

 which a later correspondent sends. This appears to be the genuine 



