WEEDS OF ARABLE LAND 95 



be taken to destroy all seeds in chaff and thrashing 

 refuse before giving these to stock. Thorough steam- 

 ing or cooking will suffice for this purpose. All waste 

 from thrashing which is not given to stock should be 

 burnt. 



Should the weed be present on a farm, the seeds 

 should be encouraged to germinate in spring, and the 

 young plants destroyed by hoeing and surface cultiva- 

 tion. Later, hand pulling should be resorted to in 

 corn crops ; and since the object is to prevent seeding, 

 the removed plants should be burnt, for, as Fream says, of 

 this plant, 1 " It is possessed of great vitality, and when 

 pulled up and thrown aside, does not perish and 

 decompose, but continues growing and ripens its 

 seed." As to the effect of lime, see pp. 41, 151. 



A good practice is to take two or more root crops 

 in succession, these enabling free and continued 

 hoeing, and the consequent destruction of young 

 plants which may be encouraged to grow by surface 

 cultivation. As the seeds appear to possess great 

 vitality it may be needful to combat this weed for 

 some years in succession, the chief object being always to 

 prevent seeding of the plants which appear. It would be 

 well for neighbouring farmers to co-operate in de- 

 stroying this as well as other weeds. 



Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.) is a strong -scented, 

 shrubby perennial 2 to 3 feet high. The leaves are alter- 

 nate on the stem and much divided, the segments 

 being toothed ; the lower leaves are stalked, but the 

 upper clasp the stem. The heads are small, ij inch 

 in diameter, dull yellow in colour, and arranged in 

 corymbose clusters, somewhat like umbels. The flowers, 

 which have been described as button-like, appear in 

 August and September. In arable land this weed may 



1 Complete Grazier, p. 858. 



