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The Cinque-Foils, or Five Fingers. There are two or three 

 species of Cinque-Foils which are becoming quite noxious. The large- 

 flowered Cinque-Foil {Potentilla recta) is a perennial, with cream- 

 colored flowers. The Norway Cinque-Foil {Poienlilla Norvegica) is 

 also a pest in many pastures. Cultivation, spudding, and hoeing will 

 keep these plants under control. 



Pigeon Weed, Wheat Thief, Red Root, or Corn Gromwell (Litho- 

 spermum arvense, L.) A winter annual naturalized from Europe, 

 with reddish roots. It is usually branched, and grows to a height of 

 12 inches. The leaves are sessile, narrow, and harsh to feel. The 

 flowers are small and white ; at maturity, four small smooth seeds are 

 produced, which have considerable vitality. 



Time of flowering from April to July. 



Time of seeding from June to August. 



Dispersal— mainly through seed grain, such as wheat, r3-e, 

 timothy, and alsike clover, — often spread by birds, and distributed in 

 the manure. 



Eradication. Drop fall wheat from the rotation. Cultivate 

 lightly after harvest and cause the seeds to germinate. When three 

 or four inches high, harrow or plow them under. If this treatment 

 is repeated each fall, wheat can again be grown. 



Sweet Clover {Melilotus alba). The white sweet clover is a very 

 common plant in vacant grounds and neglected fields about cities and 

 along roadsides. It is a tall, rank growing plant, and thrives best on 

 heavy clay soils. It may be classed among the weeds, inasmuch as it 

 grows where it is not w^anted, but it cannot be considered a noxious 

 weed. As a soil-former sweet clover is a valuable plant. It roots 

 deeply, and is a nitrate producer. With the aid of the rains and 

 frosts it gradually mellows the soil of unproductive clay, and makes 

 it fit for cultivation. 



It is a biennial. The shoots of the first year's growth are tender, 

 and are valued in the South as fodder for stock, but those of the 

 second year are tough, fibrous, and branching, and bear the flowers 

 which are very attractive to honey bees. In some districts sweet 

 clover is growm extensively by apiculturists. The number of seeds 

 produced every year by each plant is very large. Experience shows 

 that sweet clover is not difficult to control. It grows altogether from 

 the seed. If seeding is prevented by cutting down the plants at 

 blossoming time very few plants will make their appearance the 



following season. . t u j 



Although a fodder plant in the South, sweet clover is not relished 

 by stock in Ontario. On account of the tough, fibrous structure ot 

 the second year's growth there is a possibility that the plant may m 

 a few years be grown for the manufacture of binder-twme, etc. 



