In the battle against weeds one can either try the Father Christmas approach -hoe, hoe, hoe, ,., or try herbicides However, before beginning on the herbicide approach it must be stated that with increases- in the price of herbicides, and awareness of associated problems including weed tolerance, hoeing and spot-spraying should be a more common practice. The weed problem is such that one in ten ryegrass seed crops are rejected or downgraded because of weeds. This is a massive mortality rate. Seventy-five percent of all rejections and downgradings are because of weeds; they are a major .problem in seed production. Wild oats are a major contributor to the problem, also soft brome (also known as goosegrass) particularly when over-threshed; bearing this in mind headers should be adjusted to' keep awns intact.