Rural vSciiool Leaflet 



10S3 



have not been plowed for several years. It grows from two to three feet 

 tall. Its most distinctive feature is its leaf, which is crinkly at the margins ; 

 and because of this the plant has been named curled dock. The tender 

 leaves are often used as greens. The blossoms are greenish with no 

 brightly colored parts. The roots are deep and straight. The small, 

 dark brown, shining seeds are common in clover and grass seed. 



Sour dock is a long-lived plant, but it can be easily killed if the plants 

 are plowed up or grubbed up before seeds are formed. 



Black bindweed. — Black bindweed is often called wild buckwheat. 

 It is a twining vine with drooping greenish flowers in small clusters. 

 Unlike the field bindweed, or wild morning-glory, which is a perennial, 

 the black bindweed is an annual plant, but it is none the less a very trouble- 

 some weed especially in grain fields. The seeds are often found in grain 

 seed. Many of the black bindweed seeds do not germinate until late in 

 the season, and the plant often becomes a pest in com and potato fields 

 after cultivation has ceased. 



Seeds of five common weeds, natural size and much enlarged: 7, while daisy; 

 dock; J, black bindweed; 4, field bindweed; 5, quack grass 



Since the black bindweed is an annual, its spread is controlled by destroy- 

 ing the plants before they go to seed, and by sowing pure farm seeds. 



Field bindweed. — Field bindweed is one of the most troublesome weeds 

 in the State. It is not so common as some other weeds, but if it becomes 

 established in a field or a garden, it is next to impossible to free the soil 

 from it. 



This bindweed is sometimes called wild morning-glory. The pink 

 blossoms are smaller than those of the cultivated moming-glor}^ The 

 weed has a twining habit, and when it is abundant it winds around other 

 plants and smothers them. It increases both by seeds and by under- 

 ground stems. The smallest part of the creeping root is sufficient to 

 start a new plant. 



This pest appears most often in rich fields and gardens. It will spread 

 in a circle from a single plant until a whole garden is infested. Many 

 ways of destroying this weed have been tried, but most of them have been 

 unsuccessful. The only sure way to destroy it is to cut the plants oft" as 

 fast as they appear. Any kind of plant may be killed if it is not per- 



