358 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



thoroughly before hand. There is uiucli trickery aud deceit, as 

 well as downright dishouesty, among the dealers and exploiters 

 of this industry. 



Of the weeds of the yeai\ the most interesting was dodder in 

 grain and clover fields. It probably came in every case from seed 

 impurity, and its growth was vigorous and destructive because of 

 the favorable weather and soil conditions. Dodder is a noxious 

 parasite, entwining and strangling the plants about it. Fortunately 

 with us it seldom flourishes except in small patches often not more 

 than a foot or two square. It should never be left to seed but 

 should be cut, left to lie until dry, and then burned. A little oil 

 sprinkled over it, if necessary, will make it more inflammable and 

 secure a thorough burning from which no seed can escape. One 

 or two weeds not commonly or widely known, and hence somewhat 

 new^ on my list may, perhaps, be spreading, but I think not. It is 

 very gratifying to know that the keeled garlic (Allium carinatum), 

 which was detected in Bucks county, along the Neshaminy creek, a 

 few years ago, does not seem to be gaining any ground On the 

 contrary, I am informed by Mr. N. E. Arnold, of Grenoble, who first 

 detected it, and gave the facts which I published in Bulletin No. 

 58, Pennsylvania State College Experiment Station, that it is not 

 only not spreading, but seems to liaA^e sensibly lost vigor in the 

 places where it was formerly growing; indeed it is now a rather rare 

 plant. When we remember what a serious nuisance the common 

 garlic (Allium vineale) is over the southeastern part of the State, 

 we may well congratulate ourselves that this new intruder, which 

 has much the same noxious qualities, seems likely to fail to become 

 established and common. Moss^ as a weed in lawns, is sometimes 

 very troublesome. If the plot of ground is quite small the most 

 satisfactory remedy is to remove the old surface and resod it; but 

 for larger areas the only relief is to break up the surface and reseed 

 it, using liberal amounts of fertilizer. Even then several years 

 may be required in order to work a complete transformation and 

 eradicate the moss. Mere pulling up the moss, accompanied by no 

 other treatment is quite ineffective. 



(4) A number of specimens of depauperate or malformed growths 

 of leaf and stem were received from different sources. They fall 

 under the head of peculiarities due to physiological causes; that is, to 

 excess of water or some other food constituent, to some poisonous 

 substance, or some unfavorability of light, temperature, etc. The 

 conditions of plant growth, while they are somewhat variable and 

 elastic, cannot be varied beyond a certain point without disaster. 

 Too great heat or too little, excess of water or some fertilizing 

 material react upon the plant causing it to produce curled or drop- 

 sical leaves, unduly shortened or elongated joints, or perhaps, an 

 entirely unusual and abnormal form of growth. A good example 

 of the latter was shown in a Japanese or Boston ivy. Normally this 

 plant clings closely to a wall by delicately branching tendrils with 

 sucker tips, and growing at the joints only. The plant under ob- 

 servation was killed back by the severe winter weather. When 

 the new growth tardily appeared in midsummer, it did not develop 

 leaves of normal size and shape until during the last few weeks of 

 the growing season. Then, instead of the usual delicate tendrils, it 



