54 BULLETIN 1155, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Cat-tails can be pulled, but if they are thick the expense of pulling 
is prohibitive. Improved drainage and good cultivation each year, 
deep plowing, and exposure of the roots to the air until thoroughly 
dried help to control cat-tails. Cat-tails do not spread rapidly in 
fields that are well cultivated each year, but with poor cultivation 
they spread very fast, and are now a serious pest in the California 
rice fields. Good stands of rice aid in keeping cat-tails from entering 
the rice checks. 
SEDGES OR UMBRELLA PLANTS. 
The sedges, or umbrella plants (Cyperus), are present over the 
entire rice area. The perennial umbrella plants are usually found on 
the levees, ditch banks, and on poorly drained land. On poorly 
prepared seed beds, however, they are often present in the rice fields. 
On well-prepared land the perennial umbrella plants are seldom seen 
in the rice checks, while the smaller annual umbrella plants are 
found almost entirely there. Where stands are thin, this annual 
form is usually very thick, but where stands are good the rice appears 
to hold the umbrella plants in check. The annual umbrella plants 
have not been considered serious pests, although if very thick they 
no doubt interfere with the growth of the rice. Good seed-bed 
preparation and good stands of rice help to control umbrella plants. 
The seed is small and easily separated from rice during threshing. 
CANARY GRASS. 
Canary grass (Phalaris paradoxa), locally known as California 
timothy, is not a serious weed pest on well-prepared rice land. 
Canary grass begins growth during the late winter and early spring 
months. If not killed in preparing the seed bed, it interferes, if very 
thick, with the early growth of the rice crop, but the plants soon die 
after the land is submerged. Canary grass is easily controlled by 
good cultivation previous to sowing the rice. 
CRABGRASS. 
Crabgrass (Syntherisma sanguinalis) is found largely on the field 
levees, though occasionally it occurs out in the rice checks on the 
higher land, where the water is shallow. Crabgrass has an extensive 
root system and a spreading habit of growth, new roots developing 
from the nodes of the stems. This grass has not been troublesome 
in the California rice fields and can apparently be controlled by good 
cultivation. 
JOINT-GRASS. 
Joint-grass {Paspalum distichum) is found in shallow ditches and 
on rather swampy land. It has creeping stems and roots similar 
to Bermuda grass. It is not found very often in the rice checks. 
Good cultivation and dry fallow should eradicate it. 
RED RICE. 
Red rice (Oryza rufipogon) is the most common rice pest in all parts 
of the world. Red rice is present in the California rice fields, but does 
not appear to spread as it has in the other rice-producing countries. 
No red rice should be allowed to mature, however. Hand pulling is 
the best means of eradicating red rice. 
In general, red-rice plants resemble ordinary or white-rice plants. 
The leaves of red rice are longer, broader, and lighter green than those 
