io 4 COMMON WEEDS 



The creeping rootstock is stout and fleshy (Fig. i, b), 

 the leaves are 3 to 5 inches long, arrow-shaped or heart- 

 shaped, with lobes at the base, and the large flowers, 

 2 inches in diameter, are usually white and solitary 

 (Fig. 30). The flowers open in fine weather from 

 June or July to October, chiefly in the earlier part of 

 the day ; with other species C. septum is in North 

 America aptly named " Morning Glory." 



This Bindweed or Convolvulus is not so much a pest 

 of the farm as of the garden, and, while its chaste 

 beauty is deserving of a place in the " wild garden," 

 it is most harmful in hedges and among garden crops, 

 among which it climbs, strangling and starving them 

 by the sheer vigour of its growth. Bush fruit trees, 

 peas, broad beans, and similar crops are often observed 

 to be covered with Great Bindweed, and in 1909 w r e 

 saw a hedge which was almost hidden, and likely to be 

 much damaged, by the foliage and climbing stems of 

 the weed. 



The rootstocks of these two pests run deeply in the 

 soil, spreading in all directions, and breaking easily, 

 each small piece soon becoming a fresh plant. It is 

 only by the exhaustion or removal of the rootstocks 

 that the weeds can be eradicated, and this necessitates 

 much care, patience, and expense. In field cultivation 

 the best means of destroying C. arvensis undoubtedly 

 lie in short rotations with extra root crops, and per- 

 sistent thorough hoeing to exhaust the root system 

 and prevent seeding. During tillage operations, with 

 deep ploughing and cultivating, many of the rootstocks 

 can be collected by the harrows or by hand, after which 

 they should be burnt. Small patches may be dug 

 out with the fork ; no small pieces should be left. The 

 more the rootstocks can be turned up and sun-dried by 

 fallowing in summer, the more likely will the pest be 



