IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS LAND 187 



including seeding down to clover at short intervals, 

 as probably the best method of cleaning land of this 

 weed. Early cutting of grass for hay may be practised 

 to prevent seeding. 



Marsh Cudweed (Gnaphalium uliginosum L.) is an 

 annual of damp light soils ; if too plentiful it should 

 be reduced by preventing seeding, and by encouraging 

 taller and better herbage. (See also p. 96.) 



Ragwort or Ragweed (Senecio Jacobcea L.) is a 

 perennial of dry pastures and meadows, on light, 

 medium, and calcareous soils. It is a tall, handsome 

 plant, 2 to 4 feet high, with a fleshy tap-root, smooth 

 stem, and irregularly cut leaves which give it a 

 "ragged" appearance (Fig. 52). The flower heads 

 are golden-yellow, resembling yellow daisies, about 

 i inch in diameter, and grouped in dense clusters or 

 corymbs. Flowering takes place between June and 

 September. It is closely related to Groundsel (S. vul- 

 garis), a well-know T n common weed of gardens and 

 arable land. 



Ragwort is extremely plentiful in some pastures, and 

 is usually avoided by cattle in this country. In the 

 young state, however, it is greedily eaten by sheep, so 

 much so that sheep are held by many to be the chief 

 means of eradicating it by the process of close de- 

 pasturing. In the old state, about the time of flowering, 

 the plant is tough and hard. In Canada this weed has 

 been shown to be the cause of the Pictou cattle disease, 

 or hepatic cirrhosis, a curious and fatal disease of the 

 liver, which has given considerable trouble during the 

 last few years. 1 In New Zealand also the same trouble 

 has been experienced, and much loss appears to have 

 been caused by it. 2 Sheep were closely pastured on 



1 Farm Weeds, Dept. of Agric., Ottawa. 



2 Ann. Refts., N. Z. Dept. Agric., 1903 and 1904. 



