254 



WEED FLORA OF IOWA 



Fig. 145-C. Distribution of Field Dodder. 



It is advisable to mow the patch if it is a small one, to rake the 

 material into a pile, and after allowing it to dry to burn it. The 

 field should be watched carefully, for if the seed is formed, young 

 dodder plants will make their appearance upon the new growth of 

 clover. It is best therefore to follow the mowing by hoeing if the 

 spot is a small one and continuing this for several weeks until all 

 dmiger of infection is passed. Dewey recommends keeping the soil 

 stirred for about tivo inches and not alloiving any young plants to 

 come in contact with the clover. 



Wallace's Farmer suggests the following treatment: "Where 

 our readers find this yellow vine twining around their clover or al- 

 falfa they must act promptly and effectively. If when they dis- 

 cover dodder they will cut it off close to the ground before it seeds 

 no damage will follow, as dodder is an annual. It will not do, how- 

 ever, to trust to the scythe or mower, for the least particle of dod- 

 der which remains attached to the stubble will grow much more 

 certainly than any corn or wheat will grow. Where a whole field 

 is infested perhaps the safest way is to mow it before the dodder 

 goes to seeding, use it for hay, and then plow it up for a crop the 

 next year. Or, if we would rather lose a crop of hay than lose the 

 stand, mow it, let it dry, and burn it, so as to destroy the dodder 

 in the stubble." 



HYDROPHYLLACEAE, WATERLEAF FAMILY. 



The common waterleaf belongs to this family. Representatives 

 of the family are more numerous in the west and south than in the 

 east and north. 



