THE MUSTARD FAMILY 79 



Occurrence: Abundant in parts of western Ontario and 

 northward. Found occasionally in the Prairie Provinces. The 

 Whitlow Grasses include a large number of species widely dis- 

 tributed throughout Canada. Macoun's catalogue includes 

 twenty-five species and varieties. They are mostly weeds of 

 secondary importance. Some varieties are cultivated for decor- 

 ative purposes. 



Injury: Most frequent in waste places, neglected fields, old 

 meadows, lawns, and along roadsides. It is not a serious pest, 

 but the genus is of importance because of the large number of 

 species which it contains and their wide distribution. 



Remedy: The whitlow grasses do not long continue in 

 evidence on farms worked under a short rotation of crops. 

 Summer-fallows should be plowed before the seed is formed. 

 Continued raking and close cutting will suppress them on lawns. 

 Grass lands over-run with them may be devoted to sheep pasture. 



ALLIED SPECIES: Vernal Whitlow Grass (Draba verna 

 L.) and Carolina Whitlow Grass (Draba caroliniana Walt.) and 

 varieties are prevalent in many localities in the eastern provinces. 



Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted; 

 Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden, 

 And choke the herbs for want of husbandry. 



Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI, Act III, sc. i, 1592. 



"That there are many seeds which lie long in the ground without any visible signs 

 "of germination is not to be disputed." And I see no impossibility against their having 

 lain so from the deluge, if not from the creation of the world (I mean such of them as lie 

 deep in the earth, and have never been exposed to the sun, air, &c.). 



Jethro Tull, The Horse Hoeing Husbandrie, 1731. 



