THREE TROUBLESOME WEEDS. \J 



DESCRIPTION. 



btem erect, one to three feet high, bristly, branching. Leaves 

 several times compounded, ultimate divisions lance-shaped and 

 toothed at the end. Stem leaves long, swollen at the base and 

 •clasping the stem. Ends of the branches bearing white flowers 

 in compound umbels, which become concave in fruit. Below 

 the flower cluster are cleft leaf-like bracts called the involucre. 

 The bloom contracts after flowering into cup-shaped clusters 

 of one-seeded burr-like fruits. Roots usually thickened with 

 nourishing matter and living over winter. 



HABITS. 



The wild carrot is usually a biennial. It thrives in nearly all 

 kinds of soils and climates. It flowers from June to September 

 and does not usually seed before time to cut hay. It sends 

 up numerous flowering shoots from the roots after haying that 

 mature seed before frost. 



The seeds are covered with a hard spiny coat which resists 

 the weather. They are often retained in the soil for several 

 seasons without losing their vitality. The seeds are covered 

 with spines which become attached to the coats of passing 

 animals, distributing them widely. The fruits remain on the 

 stalks until after snow falls and are then broken off by the wind 

 and blown long distances. The plant in Maine is most abund- 

 ant along road sides and in neglected places from which great 

 quantities of seeds are annually distributed to adjoining fields. 



TREATMENT. 



As the root is biennial, prevention of seeding for two seasons 

 would eradicate it. The plants could be destroyed by cutting 

 the roots off below the surface with a spade. As the plant 

 sends out flowers from the base after haying, a single cutting 

 would not prevent seeding. The patches should be mowed 

 again before the second blooms are matured enough to form 

 seeds. As sheep are said to eat it, allowing them to graze on 

 the grasslands after haying would keep it down. The plants 

 along roadsides and in waste places should be cut so as to pre- 

 vent the seed being spread by the wind and animals. 



