﻿WEEDS 
  

  

  337 
  

  

  but 
  much 
  also 
  is 
  expended 
  for 
  extra 
  wear 
  and 
  tear 
  of 
  farm 
  

   implements 
  and 
  machinery 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  purchase 
  of 
  implements 
  

   which 
  are 
  only 
  needed 
  for 
  contending 
  with 
  weeds. 
  It 
  is 
  worth 
  

   while 
  to 
  notice 
  that 
  the 
  labor 
  expended 
  in 
  destroying 
  weeds 
  

   is 
  not 
  all 
  dead 
  loss, 
  as 
  the 
  loosening 
  and 
  turning 
  over 
  of 
  the 
  

   soil 
  is 
  often 
  of 
  much 
  use 
  to 
  the 
  

   growing 
  crops. 
  

  

  Aside 
  from 
  the 
  damage 
  which 
  

   they 
  inflict 
  on 
  crops, 
  weeds 
  cause 
  

   much 
  inconvenience 
  and 
  loss, 
  as 
  

   they 
  infest 
  roadsides 
  and 
  rail- 
  

   road 
  rights 
  of 
  way, 
  and 
  choke 
  

   up 
  streams, 
  canals, 
  and 
  irrigation 
  

   ditches. 
  

  

  314. 
  Where 
  our 
  weeds 
  origi- 
  

   nated. 
  1 
  Among 
  the 
  most 
  trouble- 
  

   some 
  weeds 
  in 
  the 
  long-settled 
  

   portions 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  about 
  

   half 
  are 
  of 
  European 
  origin 
  

   and 
  several 
  came 
  from 
  tropical 
  

   America 
  and 
  from 
  India. 
  Only 
  

   about 
  40 
  per 
  cent 
  are 
  native 
  

   American 
  species. 
  2 
  

  

  Naturally 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  Euro- 
  

   pean 
  weeds 
  introduced 
  into 
  this 
  

   country 
  have 
  traveled 
  rather 
  

   slowly 
  inland 
  from 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  

   coast. 
  Some 
  species, 
  like 
  the 
  

   common 
  groundsel 
  (fig. 
  19), 
  

   chicory, 
  butter 
  and 
  eggs, 
  wild 
  

   carrot, 
  and 
  wild 
  parsnip, 
  are 
  still 
  much 
  more 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  

   maritime 
  provinces 
  of 
  Canada 
  and 
  in 
  New 
  England 
  than 
  

  

  1 
  See 
  the 
  article 
  "Pertinacity 
  and 
  Predominance 
  of 
  Weeds," 
  in 
  the 
  

   Scientific 
  Papers 
  of 
  Asa 
  Gray, 
  selected 
  by 
  C. 
  S. 
  Sargent, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  Houghton 
  

   Mifflin 
  Company, 
  Boston 
  ; 
  also 
  "Farm 
  Weeds 
  of 
  Canada," 
  Second 
  Edition, 
  

   Government 
  Printing 
  Bureau, 
  Ottawa, 
  Canada. 
  

  

  2 
  Farmers' 
  Bulletin 
  28, 
  U.S. 
  Dept. 
  Agr. 
  

  

  FIG. 
  244. 
  The 
  buffalo 
  bur 
  

   (Solanum 
  rostratum) 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  a 
  troublesome 
  weed 
  in 
  grain- 
  

   fields. 
  It 
  is 
  traveling 
  eastward 
  from 
  

   the 
  Great 
  Plains 
  near 
  the 
  Rocky 
  

   Mountains. 
  It 
  is 
  often 
  distributed 
  

   by 
  being 
  blown 
  about 
  as 
  a 
  tumble- 
  

   weed. 
  One 
  sixth 
  natural 
  size 
  

  

  