208 



Two Common Weeds. 



[JUNE, 



plants occur in small numbers, or the growing crop be too 

 far advanced to admit of the use of the harrows, or be other- 

 wise unsuitable, hand-pulling should be resorted to, if possible 

 in hot, dry weather. Among root-crops, Goosefoot should be 

 attacked by vigorous and frequent hoeing when the plants 

 are small, and on a hot day they will quickly wither. Large 

 or late plants should be removed by hand, an endeavour being 

 made in all cases to prevent seeding. 



Annual Sow Thistle. — The Annual Sow Thistle (Sonchus 

 oleraceus, L.) is a weed which causes considerable trouble in 

 arable land. It is an erect plant which may attain three feet 

 in height, and has a tubular grooved stem, which is branched, 

 smooth, and shiny (See Plate). The leaves are bright green, 

 the lower ones being stalked and much lobed, the upper lobed, 

 or entire and angular, and clasping the stem. The flowers, 

 which appear in summer between June and September, are 

 borne in crowded "heads" of smooth or slightly cottony 

 yellow flowers. The fruit is attached to a feathery pappus, 

 which enables it easily to be borne away and distributed by 

 the wind, and it should be remembered that this weed is only 

 propagated by seed. 



In view of the fact last mentioned, it is clear that where 

 Sonchus oleraceus occurs, either in small or large quantity, 

 the first thing to be considered is the prevention of seeding, 

 and to this end it is important that the plants should be cut 

 down before the flowers appear. The cutting of the plants, 

 moreover, should not be confined to the fields actually infested, 

 but should extend to any waste land which may be adja- 

 cent, for such land is usually a fertile source of the thousands 

 of seeds produced by this plant. Cutting off with the hoe 

 below the surface of the soil, or pulling up by hand, will be 

 equally effective in destroying the annual sow thistle. The 

 easiest time for hand-pulling is when rain has softened the 

 ground, and in corn crops this is doubtless the most expedient 

 method. The regular and thorough hoeing generally prac- 

 tised should keep this weed down in root crops, and the same 

 remark applies to garden cultivation. 



