THE BUTTERCUP FAMILY 75 



should be unusually shallow to avoid bringing the seeds to the 

 surface. Frequent attention with the hoe is needed after general 

 cultivation has ceased. Seeds that have formed will develop 

 and mature on the fleshy stems of the plant after it has been, cut; 

 it is therefore necessary to remove and destroy the plants that 

 have formed seeds. A revolving pea rake may be used to 

 gather the plants from stubble lands. The plants so gathered 

 may be used as green food for pigs, but care should be taken 

 that the seeds are not returned to the fields in the manure. 

 Constant raking, to raise the prostrate stems, followed by close 

 cutting, is recommended for lawns in which this pest gives 

 trouble. A three-year rotation, including summer-fallow directly 

 after the removal of a crop of early clover, followed by hoed crop 

 and again by cereal grain for the third year, will keep it in check. 

 If given access to corn and potato fields, sheep will feed on late 

 plants, and if their pasture is short, will prevent many of them 

 from seeding. 



THE BUTTERCUP FAMILY (Ranunculaceae). 



A hardy family of plants, generally distributed in moist 

 places in temperate and cold climates. Mostly perennials. 

 The Ranunculaceae are herbaceous or woody plants, generally 

 containing a colourless, acrid juice. The leaves are often com- 

 pound or dissected, with the leaf-stalks swollen at the base. The 

 fruits are variable ; they may be berries, pods or dry seed-like fruits. 

 This family contains a few weeds of secondary importance as well 

 as the more virulent Larkspurs (Delphinium') and Monkshoods 

 (Aconitum) of the western plains. Crocus Anemone (Ane- 

 mone patens L., var. Wolfgangania (Bess.) Koch.) has caused 

 losses in flocks of sheep. Owing to its early flowering and its 

 succulence, the hairy steins are eaten and the copious hairs, 

 remaining undigested, form balls in the stomachs of the sheep. 

 White or Pennsylvanian Anemone (Anemone canadensis L.) 

 sometimes increases so much in low pastures that it crowds out 

 the grasses and necessitates breaking up the sod. The seed 

 (Plate 73, fig. 26) is sometimes found with the seeds of grasses. 



