PLANT IMPROVEMENT, GOOD SEED 29 



Storage of seed under proper conditions is quite impor- 

 tant. Most seeds should be promptly dried when first taken; 

 they are then kept free from moisture and from frost. They 

 need to be kept away from mice and from insect pests such 

 as weevils. 



Weeds have been briefly defined as ' 'plants out of place." 

 This is a satisfactory meaning of the term, for many plants 

 that are grown for the uses of man are objectionable when 

 found among other crops. Rosebushes sprouting in a corn- 

 field are called weeds. Likewise corn in a rose garden is 

 considered as a weed. Noxious weeds, however, are those 

 plants which are very frequently found in fields, or gardens, 

 or other undesirable places. 



Classification. — Weeds may be grouped, according to 

 the length of life, into annuals, biennials, and perennials. 



Annual weeds bear blossoms and seeds the first year 

 and then die entirely. This group includes many of our 

 most abundant weeds> such as rough pigweed, lamb's-quar- 

 ter, Russian tumbleweed, the large sunflower, horseweed 

 or fleabane, ragweed, Spanish needles, buffalo bur, purs- 

 lane, cocklebur, corn cockle, mustard, chickweed, and field 

 dodder. 



The annual weeds are more commonly found in with 

 annual crops such as grain, corn, potatoes, and garden 

 annuals; this is chiefly because the weed seeds sown each 

 year by the plants find ready lodgement in the freshlj^ plowed 

 or cultivated fields and gardens. 



One of the easiest ways to get rid of a bad field of annual 

 weeds is to rotate the crops by thickly seeding the field to 

 clover or grasses. Annual weeds are seldom found in such 

 fields, particularly after the first cutting of the hay. 



Biennial weeds are those plants which live two years, 

 the first year making a vigorous growth and storing some 

 nourishment, but bearing no blossoms nor seeds until the 

 second summer. There are not many common kinds of 



