IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS LAND 211 



is thrown up it is almost impossible to pull the stem 

 and bulb up together. But, as the season advances, 

 the bulb seems to work up to the surface, and about 

 June it is quite easy to pull up stem and bulb together." 



The presence of the Wild Onion in excessive quantity 

 over a small area may render it advisable to pare and 

 burn the surface soil containing the bulbs, and then 

 re-seed the patches. (See also p. 125.) 



Ramsons or Broad-leaved Garlic (Allium ursinum L.) 

 is a fairly common plant in woods, moist shady places, 

 and by the sides of streams. It is i to 2 feet high, 

 with large, flat, broad leaves, resembling those of the 

 lily-of-the-valley. The stems are triangular, and bear 

 a flat-topped umbel of white flowers, which appear in 

 May and June. If crushed, the whole plant emits a 

 strong characteristic smell of garlic. Ramsons is 

 chiefly troublesome where milch cows may eat it, as 

 they frequently do, when the offensive odour and taste 

 characteristic of the plant is communicated to the milk 

 and the dairy produce prepared from it. Where cattle 

 may get at it this weed should be cut down or the 

 bulbs dug out. 



JUNCACE^: 



The Common Rushes, Juncus effusus L., J. glaucus 

 Sibth., /. conglomerates L., and some other species, are 

 very plentiful in water meadows, damp meadows by 

 streams and rivers, and similar situations. They are 

 in general perennial plants, with an extensive and 

 deep-seated creeping rootstock, erect, simple, pointed 

 stems containing pith, and leaves which may be slender 

 and flat or round, resembling the stem. The flowers 

 are brownish or green, somewhat star-like, and in 

 axillary or terminal cymes or clusters. 



Rushes generally occur in damp soils, and even 



