There has long been needed a book describing the more important weeds of the United States, although there are numerous publications of the United States government and state experiment stations that treat of the more important weeds of the United States and Canada and their eradication. The demand for publications of this kind is so great that the editions soon become exhausted. This work on weeds is here presented to bring some of the more important phases of the subject together in one treatise. Comparatively few books on this subject have been published in America. The treatise by Fletcher and Clark, and a second edition revised by Clark, treat the subject admirably. The work of Darlington and Thurber, "American Weeds and Useful Plants," found a welcome place in the botanists' library. The little book by Prof. Thomas Shaw also filled a most useful place in the agricultural literature of this country. The weeds described in the present manual by no means cover all that are injurious, and we have described many more from eastern North America than from the Pacific coast or the southern states. In a work of limited scope it has been impossible to include more than a fraction of the weeds of the country. Those who are interested in a further study of the plants should provide themselves with such admirable manuals as the seventh Revised Edition of Gray's Manual by Robinson and Fernald, Nelson and Coulter's New Manual of Rocky Moun tain Botany and Britton's Manual, Chapman's Flora of the Southern States, Small's Flora of the Southern States and a Flora of California soon to be issued by Professor Jepson. The chapters on eradication of weeds, how weeds are disseminated, the farmer's interest in good seed, as well as the method of weed propagation, should be of special interest to the farmer. The illustrations should be helpful to those who are not familiar with the technical terms used in the descriptions of plants. Some of the figures were drawn by Miss Charlotte M. King, generally not indicated except by her initials, others by Miss Ada Hayden, all indicated except figures redrawn from other sources. To both express my thanks for the artistic sketches. Many of the remaining figures have been taken from publications of the United States Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station. Credit has been given in every case. I am also greatly indebted to Miss Harriette S. Kellogg for the preparation of the bibliography, index, the reading of the manuscript and proof. Ames, Iowa. April 5, 1911. L. H. PAMMEL. TABLE OF CONTENTS |