244 NATURE-STUDY RE WE IV [6:8-Nov.,l9lO 



Ouackgrass, which has tough rootstalks, which will quickly 

 renew the growth if only a single joint is left in the ground, is 

 perhaps the most difficult of all weeds to eradicate. Whole farms 

 are ruined by it when it once gets a hold. To kill it requires 

 eternal vigilance and effort. The ground must be thoroughly 

 cleared of the rootstalks. This is done by weeding, cultivating, 

 plowing and harrowing, and then raking carefully the exposed 

 rootstalks, drying and burning them. Small patches can be 

 poisoned, or they may be covered thickly with straw for a season. 

 Repeated very deep plowing under is also recommended. 



Sometimes after plowing under a crop of weeds, the new 

 .growth is prevented by sowing a heavy crop of broad-leaved 

 plants, such as turnips, beans, or peas, which by having a start, 

 -shade the weeds to death. 



After a successful campaign with weeds in a garden or field 

 the laborer may have to begin all over again, if he uses too fresh 

 manure for fertilizing. Manure is very apt to contain weed seeds, 

 these not having been affected by the alimentary canal. Manure 

 from pig-sties is particularly bad in this respect. Manure should 

 lie well rotted before being applied. 



All this weeding adds considerably to the work of the gar- 

 dener and farmer. There is this offset, however, that one culti- 

 vation for the removal of weeds is often a blessing in disguise, 

 in that it loosens the soil and makes a surface mulch that prevents 

 the soil moisture from evaporating so rapidly. If it were not 

 for the weeds, the farmer might not cultivate so assiduously. It 

 is like the story of the man who, about to depart this life, de- 

 vised his vineyard upon his sons, with the advice that if they dug 

 well in it they would find a treasure. They dug much, but found 

 no coin. The vineyard, however, yielded a plentiful harvest as a 

 result of the digging. 



Charles D. Warner, in his charming little book, "My Sum- 

 mer in a Garden", which every lover of gardening should read, 

 lias much to say, in a humorous vein, about weeds, especially 

 ""pusley" and quackgrass (which he compares to original sin on 

 account of the way it constantly creeps out). He moralizes on 

 the subject in an entertaining way. 



Weeds as plants out of place are a great nuisance. But they 

 have their good points. One should give the devil his due. As 

 shown above, weeds are interesting and often beautiful. Some of 

 them have, are supposed to have, medicinal value. Some, such as 



