324 CONVOLVULACEAE (CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



Means of control 



Persistently starve the rootstocks by the frequent close cutting 

 of the stems. This weed is an argument against any more fences 

 than are an absolute necessity. It loves the mellow soil of a 

 cornfield and, though it may be well fought until the corn crop 

 attains full stature, too often the later growth is neglected ; after 

 the "ears begin to fill" the pest is permitted to mature seed as 

 well as to make sufficient leaf-growth to restock the pernicious 

 underground storehouses with food for another year. There can 

 be no such relaxing of the struggle if the weed is to be sup- 

 pressed ; it must be cut and again cut until the corn is laid by. 

 Other measures, such as are advised for Field Bindweed, may 

 also be used for this plant. 



CLOVER DODDER 



Ciiscuta Epithymum, Murr. 



Other English names: Love-vine, Strangle Weed, Hairweed, Devil's 



Hair, Devil's Gut, Hellbind. 

 Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom: June to September. 

 Seed-time: August to October. 

 Range: Locally in most of the states. 

 Habitat : Wherever the clovers or alfalfa are extensively grown. 



The farmer who sees his newly seeded clover or alfalfa field 

 partly or wholly in the grip of this parasite gets a realizing sense 

 of the value of clean seed. For the Dodder is there because it 

 was sown there with the crop. If the plant is allowed to ripen 

 fruit, the ground will be made foul and unfitted for similar crops 

 for at least eight years, the dormant vitality of the seed being re- 

 tained for a period of five to seven years. 



The parasite awakens late nearly a month after the green- 

 leaved plants on which it must depend have started growth ; it 

 germinates in the soil but draws from it no sustenance. The 

 seedling looks like a bit of yellowish red hair, two to four inches 

 long, with a slight knob, or swelling, at one end, swaying pliantly 

 about, searching for a host plant to which it may attach itself. 

 If no such plant is within reach the seedling falls to the ground and 



