210 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



European clover dodder, the one that has made so much trouble to 

 the growers of clovers and alfalfa (Lucern) in that country. 



Whenever Clover Dodder is found in a filed, it must be cut out as 

 soon as it appears. The owner should go into his field with a sickle or 

 perhaps a scythe and cut out carefully every bit of the clover that is 

 affected with the Dodder. This should then be put into a bag and 

 carried out of the field where it should be burned. The latter precaution 

 is desirable because the seeds otherwise would ripen and there would 

 be the danger of propagation of the plant in this way. There should be 

 every effort made by farmers to keep out this Clover Dodder and it can 

 be done only by careful weeding out from every field. It is easy to see 

 it and with a sharp hand-sickle a man could go over a large field in a 

 short time. 



It may be well to state that Dodder is propagated by seeds which 

 are a little smaller than clover seeds, so small that they are commonly 

 found in clover seed that has been grown in a field affected with Dodder. 

 There is no question but that this Clover Dodder was brought to this 

 country as an impurity in Clover seed and this is an additional reason 

 why greater care should be taken in requiring seedsmen to sell only 

 clean, pure seed. 



In reply to still another inquirer I may say in the first place that 

 the seedsman who sold the alfalfa seed filled with dodder should be 

 very severely condemned, and he ought to make some proper recom- 

 pense. I do not know what the seed laws are in the various states, but 

 they should be such as to protect the buyer against such contamination 

 as seems to have been the case in the instance referred to. 



Now as to what to do for the field which has been injured by the 

 growth of the dodder. It must be remembered that dodder is a tender 

 annual, and dies out, at least for the most part, at the end of the year 

 and before the winter sets in. It is true that in some instances dodder 

 has been found to live over down near the root of the alfalfa or clover 

 plant but it is agreed that this is not commonly the case. So if the 

 owner can keep the dodder from producing any seeds he will eventually 

 rid his field of it. The proper thing to do will be for him to watch 

 the field and as soon as any dodder appears to have it cut out entirely 

 and burned. It should say that a trusty boy provided with a sickle and 

 a bag would be able to go over a very considerable field very carefully 

 in a short time. I should send the boy over the field every few days with 

 instructions to cut out and put into the bag every bit of dodder which 

 he finds. It should be remembered that the dodder has no roots of its 

 own in the ground. When the seeds first germinate they send a tiny 

 root into the ground for a long enough time to enable the little plants 

 to live until they have fastened themselves to the alfalfa stem, then 

 the root portion of the dodder dies away and after that it has no con- 

 nection with the ground. So when the boy is hunting for dodder he need 

 not be afraid that any roots will be left in the ground. 



