248 WEED FLORA OF IOWA 



and harrows he can get rid of them. If he cultivates the plants 

 with the rest of his field it is only a short time until he will find 

 these weeds scattered all over his field. A great many ways have 

 been suggested to get rid of this troublesome weed. Special at- 

 tachments have been invented for the use on corn cultivators 

 known as the morning-glory blades. These are designed to shave 

 off the plants just below the surface of the ground." 



"We certainly would fence up this pasture, or part of it, and 

 would sow a mixture of grains that would furnish hog feed, and 

 while we were at it would sow clover and timothy, and when the 

 grains were three or four inches high turn in the hogs. The only 

 trouble is that there are not enough hogs to go around the whole 

 tract. We had a field in that condition twenty years ago. We 

 made a hog pasture of it, and while the morning-glories are yet 

 to be seen in the road alongside, there are none of them in the 

 pasture, and have not been since the first year." 



European Bindweed or Morning-glory (Convolvulus arvensis L.) 



Description. — The European bindweed or morning-glory is a 

 deep-rooting perennial; stem procumbent, twining or creeping. 

 Like the horse nettle, this species propagates freely by under- 

 ground root-stocks; leaves 1-2 in. long, ovate, oblong, arrow-shaped, 

 lobes at the base running to a point; flowers borne in 1-flowered 

 peduncles with very small leaf-like bracts some distance from the 

 flowers; flowers an inch or less long, short, broadly funnel-shaped, 

 white or commonly of a rose tinge. 



Distribution. — European bindweed is a troublesome weed in Eur- 

 ope and in eastern North America. It occurs also in the southern 

 states and on the Pacific coast. It is scattered in many parts of 

 Iowa in small patches. 



Extermination.- — A short rotation of crops should be practiced, 

 including late sown roots or other cultivated crops : rape is useful 

 for this purpose. Frequent use of a broad-shared cultivator will 

 destroy new growths and exhaust the vitality of the plants. Sow 

 no crop seeds containing those of field bindweed. Applications of 

 salt or lime, sometimes recommended to kill this weed, are useless 

 unless applied in large quantities. 



