WEEDS OF MEADOWS AND PASTURES 19 



4. Plow under rye in May and seed again with millet, 



or Hungarian grass, or plant to some hoed crop 

 (corn) and give the most thorough cultivation, 

 with continued destruction of every remaining 

 thistle. 



5. Continue the clean cultivation and sharp lookout for 



thistles another year. 



The Cone-flower, the Flea-banes or White-tops and the 

 various sorts of Wild Sunflowers are well-known plants 

 that are frequently troublesome in meadows and pastures. 

 They generally make a tall and vigorous growth that 

 shades the grass beneath, and thus prevents its develop- 

 ment. When they take possession, tillage and reseeding 

 are necessary. 



The Chondrilla, a curious European plant compara- 

 tively recently introduced, proves troublesome in pastures 

 with light soils. It is a biennial, developing during the 

 first season low-lying rosettes of leaves, very similar to 

 those of the dandelion. On these the small yellow com- 

 posite flowers appear, to develop later into seed fruits, 

 which also are strikingly like those of the dandelion. They 

 are scattered by the wind, so that when once introduced 

 into a new locality the Chondrilla is likely soon to be gen- 

 erally distributed. Cultivation and fertilization seem to be 

 the best measures to exterminate it. 



Several trouble makers in lowland pastures are those 

 weedy composite plants having spiny or hooked fruits that 

 become attached to the wool of sheep or the hair of other 

 animals. The Spanish Needles, Bur Marigolds, Beggar 

 Ticks, and Stick-tights are examples of these. Such plants 

 are likely to develop in undrained areas, and proper drain- 

 age is generally necessary to check their increase. Along 



