the deep tap roots send out many side branches, and it will be necessary to 

 use a duck-foot cultivator to cut the plants off or to give the land a light 

 spring ploughing. On land which is to be summer-fallowed, patches of this 

 weed should be mowed before ploughing; or, unless the weak is done very 

 early, many seeds will be turned down in a condition to grow. Summer- 

 fallowing, from almost all considerations, should be done as early in spring 

 as other farm work will permit of; the best time is directly after seeding is 

 finished. 



When clover is to be cut for seed, it will pay to mow with a scythe or 

 pull by hand any plants of Peppergrass seen on bare spots. 



FIELD PEPPERGRASS or Cow CRESS, Lepidium campestre, R.Br., occurs 

 in a few places in western Ontario, and the seeds have been found from time 

 to time in clover seed in the market. They resemble very much in a super- 

 ficial way the seeds of Hare's-ear Mustard. They are about the same size 

 and colour, but are of a redder shade of brown, and are of a rather different 

 shape. When examined they can be easily recognized. The Field Pepper- 

 grass has seeds one-twelfth of an inch long, egg-shaped, but pointed at the 

 scar end. The surface is finely roughened and dull, with apparently a mealy 

 surface. This is due to the copious coat of mucilage, mixed with long 

 gelatinous hairs, which is developed when the seeds are soaked in water. 

 The space between the radicle and seed leaves is shown by a deep but narrow 

 groove with sharp edges, extending from the sharp basal end almost to the 

 top of the seed. The plant grows with two or three stems from the same 

 root. These are corymbosely branched above, with a few ascending branches. 

 The lower leaves are oblong, and not toothed. Those of the stem are spear- 

 shaped with blunt ends, a few large shallow teeth and an arrow-shaped base. 

 The thick seed pods are broadly ovate, boat-shaped, being rounded below, 

 and hollowed out above. They are prominently keeled below, and are 

 roughened with short fleshy prominences ; they stand out stiffly from the 

 stem on pedicels of about their own length. Each pod contains two seeds. 

 The plant is a biennial, and is as yet rare in Canada, occurring only, as far 

 as evidenced by the seeds, in the clover-growing districts of Ontario, and at 

 one or two other points in the eastern counties of the same Province. 



THE PINK FAMILY, CARYOPHYLLACE&. 



The Pink family, which contains several beautiful garden flowers, also 

 embraces some troublesome weeds, the seeds of which are frequently found 

 in clover and grass seeds. The characters are well marked. All the weeds 

 are herbs with brittle stems, articulated and thickened at the joints, fre- 

 quently forked. Leaves entire, generally opposite and joining round the 

 stem at the base. The flowers usually borne in corymbs, regular, of 4 or 

 5 parts, or double those numbers, with or without petals; stamens nearly 

 always normally 10; by deficiency, sometimes only 5, 4, or 3; styles 2 to 5, 

 rarely united into one. Seeds usually many, attached to the base or to a cen- 

 tral column of the solitary 1-celled (rarely 3 to 5 celled) pod, which opens at 

 the top by as many or twice as many teeth as there are styles. The numer- 

 ous seeds often kidney-shaped, and embossed with tubercles. The embryo in 

 most of our weeds is curved so that the apex and base come close together 

 around a central mass of albumen. The seeds do not develop mucilage 

 when soaked in water. There are two tribes of these plants : the Cockles, 

 with the sepals united into a tube, and the Chickweeds, in which the sepals 

 are distinct or nearly so. 



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