THE BORAGE FAMILY 127 



the wool to become matted. The seeds are common in clover 

 and other commercial seeds. 



Remedy: Continued close cutting from year to year when 

 the plant is in early bloom will suppress it in waste places and 

 pastures. Spudding below the crown of the root will kill it. 

 The seeds are not long-lived in a moist climate and are not 

 likely to produce plants after from three to five years. If the 

 pest is prevented from seeding for three consecutive years, 

 relatively few plants will require cutting thereafter; probably 

 none after five years. This biennial will quickly succumb 

 to a short rotation of crops with fall plowing and thorough 

 spring cultivation before seeding. 



ALLIED SPECIES: Pigeon Weed (Lithospermum arvense 

 L.), also called Red Root, Wheat Thief and Field or Corn Grom- 

 well, is abundant in western Ontario and troublesome in fields 

 of fall wheat. It is a widely branching biennial or winter annual 

 with white flowers and produces a large number of early-ripening 

 seeds. 



The seed (Plate 74, fig. 59) is similar in size and general 

 shape to that of Blue Weed, but rather less angular and with a 

 much smoother surface. Instead of having rough projections, 

 it is deeply and irregularly grooved, with prominent ridges 

 between the grooves. It may be easily recognized by the basal 

 scar, which is oval or obtusely 3 to 5-angled; instead of the 

 pit at the inner angle and the two cone-shaped projections on 

 an excavated surface, it has a convex surface with two light- 

 coloured distinct cones. These seeds are common in poorly- 

 cleaned fall wheat and rye. 



Land is. best cleaned by a short rotation, including grain 

 sown in spring instead of autumn. Plants which start growth 

 in autumn can be destroyed by fall or spring plowing or discing. 



The Buglosse groweth in all gardens, and in sandie champion countrys it 



maketh men gladde and merle". 



Parkinson, 1629. 



