248 



PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL BOTANY 



small capsules, whose tops fall off as a lid. Hoeing up while in the seedling 

 stage seems to be the only way of vanquishing this weed. Plants hung up 

 to dry for a month, if returned to the soil, will begin their growth afresh, 

 so that the hoed plants should be placed on the compost heap where 

 fermentation will destroy the plants and the vitality of the seeds. 



FIG. 103. PIG. 104. 



FIG. 103.- Pusley (Portulaca oleracea). An abundant garden weed. (Division of 

 Bot., U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.) (Reproduced in Pommel, L. H.: Some Weeds of Iowa, 

 Bull. 70, Experiment Station, Iowa State College, 1903, p. 358.) 



FIG. 104. Shepherd's purse (Capsella Bursa-pastoris). Common everywhere in 

 northern United States. (Division of Bot., U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.) (Reproduced 

 in Pommel, L. H.: Some Weeds of Iowa, Bull. 70, Experiment Station, Iowa Slate College, 

 1903. P- 364-) 



Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). This is probably the most 

 widely distributed weed on earth. It develops a rosette of tufted, pinna- 

 tified leaves and an erect raceme of small, white flowers and later triangular 

 flat silicles. This weed gradually succumbs to constant tillage, and when 

 young, it is killed by a spray of copper or iron sulfate (Fig. 104). 



Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis). This stout biennial 

 plant with a rosette of lanceolate, basal leaves, and tall, leafy-bracted 



