IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS LAND 201 



PKIMULACE^E 



The Cowslip (Primula veris L.), so well known to all 

 country people, is a perennial which grows in meadows 

 and pastures, especially on sticky calcareous loams. 

 The flowers appear in April and May. Manuring and 

 close grazing, combined with regular cutting, tend to 

 reduce it. 



POLYGONACE^E 



The only members of this order to be considered 

 here are the Docks and Sorrels, than which few weeds 

 are more troublesome, both on the farm and in the 

 garden. All are perennials, and most of them difficult 

 to eradicate. 



The Common or Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusi- 

 folius L.) is a stout erect plant 2 to 3 feet high, with 

 a strong tapering root descending deeply into the soil. 

 The radical leaves are large, often a foot long. They 

 are oblong-lanceolate, borne on a slender stalk, and 

 have a somewhat wavy margin. The small flowers, on 

 slender pedicels, are produced in large numbers on a 

 narrow panicle, which is leafy towards the base. They 

 produce brownish, triangular fruits, resembling buck- 

 wheat, which are enclosed in toothed or serrated sepals. 

 Flowering takes place in August and September, and 

 the panicle has a reddish-brown tinge. This Dock is 

 practically ubiquitous, and is troublesome in both 

 arable and grass land. 



Curled Dock (Rumex crispus L.) may also be de- 

 scribed as ubiquitous. The stem is branched and i to 

 3 feet high, and there is a fleshy tap-root. It much 

 resembles R. obtusifolius, but the leaves are narrower, 

 lanceolate, and more waved or crisped along the edges. 

 The small reddish or greenish flowers are in crowded 



