WEEDS 



169 



feet and forms thickets. It resists alkali in the soil 

 surprisingly well. The flowers are small and yellow. 

 The seeds fly by means of white down. 



Sow thistle. Figure 85 shows an early stae. The 

 later leaves have nearly the same shape as those shown 

 here. The flowers are 

 yellow and produce 

 seeds which fly on the 

 wind. The juice looks 

 like milk. 



Mallow, or cheeses. 

 The seedling is shown 

 in figure 86. The plant 

 is very hard to get rid 

 of as it produces a great 



FlG - 85 - Young plant of sow thistle. 



(About natural size.) 



many seeds, and these 



germinate even if the 



plant is cut down while still green. They fall into 



cracks in the soil, where they germinate, and come to 



the surface even in midsummer. It has been recom- 



mended for forage, but animals do not readily eat it. 



Plantain, or rib grass. This is common everywhere, 

 and is very troublesome in irrigated lands. The root 

 is tough and hard to cut. Unless the cutting is deep, 

 new leaves will be sent out. When the plants are 

 small (figure 87), they are easily destroyed. 



Chickweed and poor man's weatherglass (pimper- 

 nel). These two weeds, like those already spoken of, 



