CURLED DOCK—SHEEP SORREL 29 



and grows in a small pod which easily floats on the water. The plant 

 flowers in June and ripens its seeds in July. It is found in fields 

 and waste places throughout the State and its seeds occur among 

 those of red clover, coarse grasses, and all cereals. 



Eradication. — Curled dock is readily eradicated by short rota- 

 tions and cultivated crops. Where scattering plants are found in 

 fields, they should be cut off deeply below the surface with a spade 

 or "spud." Young plants may be pulled by hand when the ground 

 is soft and wet. Avoid sowing the seed with grain or grass seed. 



Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella L.) 



Other common names. -^Sour grass, field sorrel, red sorrel. 



Description. — Sheep sorrel is a perennial weed with shallow 

 running root stalks which ^re yellowish in color. It is one of the few 

 perennial weeds that are easily subdued. The leaves are on long 

 stalks at the base of the plant. They are arrow-shaped and more 

 or less silvery in appearance. The leaves on the stem are generally 

 shorter stalked and are somewhat thickened. They have a decidedly 

 sour taste. 



Sheep sorrel seldom grows more than eighteen inches high, and 

 is generally only about eight to ten inches high. The flowers are not 

 showy. The seeds are small, somewhat triangular, and covered with 

 a dull brown hull. When this hull is removed, a light brown and 

 very shiny seed appears. The seeds appear both with and without 

 the brown hull in the seeds of clover and all grasses, particularly in 

 alsike and white clover seed from which they are very difficult to 

 remove by the use of the ordinary fanning mill. The plants flower 

 from May until autumn and usually mature their seed during July, 

 August, and September. They are also propagated by shallow root- 

 stocks which send up new plants as described in connection with 

 quack grass. The weed is common throughout Minnesota, thriving 

 in all kinds of soil, but especially in sandy soils. 



Eradication. — Sheep sorrel grows most abundantly in thin or 

 worn out meadows. Breaking the meadow and raising corn or some 

 other cultivated crop will usually subdue the weed. The land should 

 be enriched with barnyard manure before reseeding to grass, and an 

 effort should be made to secure a thick stand. On meadows or pas- 

 tures that can not be plowed top dressing with manure and sowing 

 in additional grass seed will be beneficial. The addition of lime to 

 the soil is also said to aid in thickening the grass and crowding out 

 the sorrel. 



