114 STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF MONTANA. 



Bozeman Milling- Company. Mr. Lamme stated that it was nmch 

 more easily screened out of wheat than is the true cockle and that the 

 amount obtained yearly at his mill was about a ton. The seeds, along 

 with an excess of broken grains of wheat, are sometimes sold as screen- 

 ings for chicken feed and often thrown away. In gross appearance the 

 seed is spherical and much like that of mustard, but nearly twice as 

 large. A magnif3dng glass discloses a regular, finely granulated sur- 

 face instead of a smooth one, and on biting the seed it is at once 

 observed that its coat is harder and thicker and that the kernel lacks 

 the characteristically pungent taste of mustard seed. 



A considerable amount of the wheat from Gallatin Valley and the 

 adjacent regions which is milled at Bozeman contains cow cockle seeds. 

 Miss Edna Maynard, a graduate from the botanical department of the 

 Montana Agricultural College, informed us that at Ennis a man who 

 had tried to raise wheat for flour found his wheat was not millable on 

 account of its large content of cockle. It is quite probable, however, 

 that in addition the wheat was soft. Mr, Lamme states that the soft 

 wheat containing the seed is of no value for milling, but that the seed 

 is easily removed from hard wheat. It occurs in barley and oats also, 

 but is easily screened therefrom. 



As a weed, pure and simple, it is getting to be nearl}' as bad in Mon- 

 tana as mustard or charlock {Brassica obrvensls)^ but it does not yet 

 crowd wheat out like the latter. Cow cockle has spread with alarm- 

 ing rapidity through the Northwest, becoming one of the worst weeds 

 of that section. In this wa}^ it has undoubtedly grown to be worthy 

 of far more consideration from an economic standpoint than it ever 

 deserved in Europe or in Asia. Professor Crandall ^ states that it was 

 introduced into Colorado for ornament as early as ISTi, and that it 

 is now sometimes abundant in gardens and among crops throughout 

 that State. It is widely disseminated in the fall by the tops of the 

 plants being blown about by the wind like tumbleweeds. In his bul- 

 letin^ on noxious weeds, Prof. James Fletcher, of Ottawa, states 

 that the cow cockle was first introduced into Manitoba from Europe, 

 and that it has spread rapidly over the southern portion of the prov- 

 ince and has been detected in many parts of Manitoba and the North- 

 west Territories. It was introduced at Bozeman, according to Mr. 

 Lamme, about 1885, when the Northern Pacific Railroad was extended 

 into the valley. Its distribution in America is given by Britton and 

 Brown ^ as from Ontario to British Columbia, south to Florida and 

 Louisiana, and in the Rocky Mountains. It has been found also m 

 California, and in the West it promises to become more abundant 

 wherever it grows. 



' Colorado Weeds, Bui. 23, Colo. p:xpt. Sta., p. 8. 1893. 



^Govt. N. W. Territories, Dept. Agr. Bui. 1, p. 15. 1898. 



" 111. Flora of the Northern United States, Canada, etc., vol. 2, p. 18. 189.7. 



