534 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



total of about 3,000 seeds to the plant. The bracted plantain is so 

 low and inconspicuous and its leaves are so much like those of 

 grass that it is not easily discernible until the flower spikes appear. 

 Hand pulling and burning is perhaps one of the best remedies 

 where the plants are not too abundant. If the land has become 

 thoroughly seeded a series of hoed crops will probably be necessary 

 to clear it out. In permanent pasture, mowing the plants as the 

 seed stalks first appear will keep them in subjection. The mowing 

 will have to be repeated several times, however, as the bracted plan- 

 tain sends up seed stalks from May until November. 



Horse Nettle. Horse nettle is closely related to the common 

 potato. The plants are 6 to 20 inches in height, loosely branching, 

 rough, with short stiff hairs, and armed with yellow prickles. The 

 plant is reproduced by the seeds, which are borne in the berries, and 

 it is abundantly propagated, also, by slender, perennial running 

 roots. It is more or less troublesome in nearly all crops and in all 

 soils, but is worse in sandy or loose, friable soils, which are easily 

 penetrated by the long roots. The production of seed may be pre- 

 vented by keeping the plants mown. The roots must be killed, 

 however, and this task is about as difficult as killing the root of the 

 Canada thistle; in fact, the methods which are most successful in 

 destroying the Canada thistle may be used with advantage in de- 

 stroying the horse nettle. 



Buffalo Bur. This plant is also native in this country, origin- 

 ally growing on the western plains, close to the mountains, from 

 Mexico northward. While the horse nettle has been slowly travel- 

 ing westward the buffalo bur has been working eastward, until it 

 is now found in many States east of the Mississippi River, and has 

 even crossed the oceans, threatening to become a troublesome weed 

 in Germany, Eugland, and Australia. Buffalo bur is related to 

 the potato and closely resembles the horse nettle. It is an annual, 

 easily subdued by preventing the production of seeds. This may be 

 done by mowing as often as the yellow blossoms appear. The seeds 

 are less abundant than those of most of the bad annual weeds, and 

 they are often ripe, at least in the northern part of its range, until 

 after the hurrying work of harvest is over. The buffalo bur is 

 seldom troublesome in fields where thorough cultivation is prac- 

 ticed. The seeds may be expected as impurities in alfalfa and clover 

 seed grown in the West. So far as known, however, in the East 

 this weed has appeared first in waste places in cities and towns and 

 has spread thence to the surrounding farms. 



Spiny Amaranth. The spiny amaranth, or prickly careless 

 weed as it is often called, is native in tropical America, and seems 

 to have been first introduced into this country along the southeast- 

 ern coast. It is now more or less abundant in most of the States 

 south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, and is spreading with con- 

 siderable rapidity. It resembles the common tumbleweed (Amar- 

 anthus graecizans) and other amaranths or careless weeds of the 

 neglected cornfield and garden. This is an annual with a succulent 

 stem, branching profusely throughout and attaining a height of 



