io8 COMMON WEEDS 



SOLANACE; 



Black or Garden Nightshade (Solatium nigrum L.) is 

 often very plentiful and troublesome in gardens which 

 have not been well cared for. It grows rapidly from 

 seed in spring and early summer ; the earliest plants 

 are in bloom by July, and bear fruit before August ; 

 flowering is prolonged until October. Seedlings con- 

 tinue to appear during the summer months. The plant 

 is an annual, and the only work necessary in regard to 

 its destruction is to hoe out all seedlings that appear 

 and prevent seeding for some years, when the weed 

 will disappear or be reduced so much that good garden- 

 ing will keep it in abeyance. Corners and shady places 

 must not be neglected, and rows of peas, runner beans, 

 and potatoes particularly need well hoeing, as Black 

 Nightshade grows well in shady positions, an odd plant 

 here and there becoming very bushy and producing 

 many seeds if it escapes observation. Should this weed 

 be plentiful on the farm the growth of well-hoed root 

 crops, with surface cultivation in the spring and early 

 summer, will be the best means of reducing it. (See 

 also p. 304.) 



PLANTAGINE^: 



Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) and Broad- 

 leaved Plantain (P. major L.) (see pp. 196-8) are both 

 common weeds of arable land, especially the latter. 

 They are perhaps not usually very troublesome on 

 arable land, though the seedlings of cultivated crops are 

 liable to be destroyed by them, and in young " seeds," 

 or clovers and grasses intended for seed crops, Plan- 

 tains are often very harmful. Care should be taken 

 that seed samples are free from the seeds of Plantains, 



