98 WEEDS OF FARM LAND 



up above the soil to bear the flowers. The greater part of the 

 life of the broomrape is passed below ground, as the nodule 

 spends twelve months or more in developing into a fair sized 

 bulb-like structure, before pushing aerial shoots. After the 

 first crop of clover or lucerne has been cut a good deal of 

 food is stored up below ground, and as the soil is well warmed 

 up at the time, the broomrape on the root thrives on the extra 

 food and warmth, develops very rapidly, and throws up 

 flowering stems which ripen their fruits and seeds within a very 

 short space of time. 



Eradication of Broomrape. The best remedy is prevention, 

 by sowing clean seed. The broomrape seeds are some of the 

 very smallest seeds that occur, so it is an easy matter to screen 

 them out from the large seeds of the crops. If unfortunately 

 infection does occur, the broomrapes should be pulled up by 

 hand immediately they appear above the soil, before they have 

 time to form seed, and should then be burnt. The attachment 

 with the host roots is not very firm, and the whole parasite 

 easily comes away. This procedure must be carried out 

 systematically for several years until the dormant seeds have 

 all developed. It is useless to do it for one or two years 

 only, as a very few plants, if neglected, are sufficient to re-seed 

 a large area. The clover or other crop should be encouraged 

 by judicious manuring and liming, to make it strong enough 

 to withstand the attacks of the parasite, and when the crop is 

 eventually ploughed up no other leguminous plant should be 

 sown on the same ground for several years. The interval 

 should be as long as possible, a case being on record l in which 

 broomrape attacked clover after seven years had elapsed since 

 the last clover crop, the new attack being so severe that the 

 whole crop had to be ploughed up. 



Broomrape deserves more attention than it usually gets, 

 for many farmers fail to realise the life history of the plant and 

 do not connect the poorness of their second cut of clover with 

 the armies of dingy brown spikes that spring up on their 

 fields. 



YELLOW RATTLE (Rhinanthus crista-galli.\ Nat. Order 

 Scrophulariacece. This is only a partial parasite, as it possesses 

 yellowish-green leaves which are able to help in the nutrition 

 of the plant, though much of the food is stolen from a host. 

 Two species are really included under the one name. 



(i) Rhinanthus minor. Small yellow rattle, which is very 



1 " Broomrape " (1908), Jour. Bd. Agric., XV, pp. 176-180. 



