288 Identification and Eradication of Weeds, [july, 



THE IDENTIFICATION AND ERADICATION OF 

 SOME COMMON WEEDS. 



I. 



Harold C. Long, B.Sc. (Edin.), 



With Drawings from Nature by Bertha Reid. 



The part played by weeds in farm economy is now recog- 

 nised by all practical farmers, and the Board have already 

 directed attention to the subject in a widely distributed 

 leaflet,* in which the damage done by weeds, the manner of 

 their distribution, and the general methods which may be 

 brought into requisition in suppressing them, have been 

 briefly described. Other leaflets deal specifically with certain 

 of the more troublesome weeds. 



In general, botanical works only aid the reader to identify 

 plants in the flowering or mature stage, and at such a stage 

 weeds have usually accomplished the damage it is the farmer's 

 object to prevent. It may be very properly said that weeds 

 should be destroyed in their seedling stage, and for this reason 

 some may argue that there is no necessity for their identifi- 

 cation at all. Weeds of different species, however, not only 

 vary considerably in the amount of damage they are able to 

 accomplish, but also in their general vitality and the measures 

 necessary for their eradication. Some wild plants are of so 

 little consequence to economic agriculture that they may be 

 neglected ; other species are harmful if plentiful ; while yet 

 others may, if they once obtain a sure footing, prove an actual 

 scourge, and involve very great labour, expense, and loss. 



It cannot but be of great value to farmers and gardeners to 

 be in a position to identify weeds — and even the cultivated 

 crops among which the weeds grow — at all stages of their life, 

 from the seed to the time the flowers are produced, and to 

 have a knowledge of their life history and habits. Such a 

 knowledge of a given weed will at the outset enable one to 

 decide whether it is a serious pest or is unlikely to cause 

 trouble, while it will largely suggest what type of protective 

 and remedial measures may most successfully be adopted. 



Corn Buttercup. 

 The Corn Buttercup {Ranunculus arvensis, L.), known also 

 as Corn Crowfoot, or Watch Wheels, is an annual weed of 



* No. 112 {Weeds and their Suppression}, 



