Description of Ragivecd and Kinghcad. 143 



not ripen their seeds in grain crops before 

 these are harvested, or in meadows before 

 the time of cutting. In the stubbles of 

 these crops, if not disturbed, they continue 

 to grow until late in the season. The blos- 

 soms and seeds are produced from July 

 till frost, the precise time of blossoming 

 varying with the attendant conditions of 

 growth. 



These weeds will grow in all soils that 

 are free from stagnant water, but they 

 very much prefer friable or loamy soils 

 that contain a large proportion of humus. 

 They revel in black loams and muck soils 

 that have been well drained, but do not 

 make much headway in stiff clays, except 

 in depressions and valleys, or along water 

 furrows and watercourses. 



While ragweed will grow in all kinds of 

 crops, it does not usually mature its seeds 

 in grain crops, nor does it mature them in 

 the first cutting for the season in a clover 

 meadow. In rich soils, as in the Red River 

 \'alley, the^rank growth of these weeds in 

 grain fields makes them' serious pests. In 

 all kinds of stubble they push on rapidly 

 after the crop has been removed, and if 

 not disturbed, produce an enormous crop 



