IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS LAND 185 



Coltsfoot (Tussilago Farfara L.) is chiefly a weed of 

 arable land (see p. 87), but often occurs in pastures 

 and meadows. Sutton says that pastures on poor, stiff 

 clays are not infrequently overrun by it. In such 

 cases the flowering stems should be cut in February 

 to April, when they appear before the leaves, and later 

 the half-grown leaves should be cut, thus weakening 

 the plants. The pest can be gradually reduced and 

 largely destroyed by the use of nitrogenous manures, 

 such as nitrate of soda and farmyard manure. As this 

 weed occurs freely in damp clays, and in damp sandy 

 soils overlying impervious clays, draining is of great 

 value. 



The Common Daisy (Bellis perennis L.), or " Day's 

 Eye," is too well known to need description here. It 

 occurs on almost all soils in poor pastures and meadows 

 and on lawns, flowering almost all the year round. 

 The rosettes of leaves lying flat on the ground pre- 

 vent the growth of grasses and clovers, as may at 

 once be seen on cutting off a Daisy plant below the 

 crown and removing it, a bare round patch being left. 

 When very plentiful in pastures much loss of good 

 herbage occurs. The best plan of dealing with this 

 weed is to encourage clovers and better grasses by 

 manurial treatment, thus smothering it out by taller 

 and more useful herbage. (As to Daisies on lawns, see 

 Chap. X.) 



Yarrow or Milfoil (Achillea Millefolium L.), although 

 readily eaten by sheep, is inclined to overrun grass land 

 on poor soils, and must therefore be included here as 

 a weed. Its good qualities when kept in check by 

 grazing has led to its inclusion as a constituent of seed 

 mixtures for laying down permanent pasture. It must, 

 however, be utilised in this manner with great care if at 

 all, as the extensive creeping rootstock enables it to 



