io6 



IRISH CIARDKNING. 



Jii.v 



Weeds. 



In- 



Ar litis si'.isoM oi till' \ (.Ml- till' suhii>i.-l ot Wi-oils is of 

 poculi.ir iiUoresl to ;ill ciiltiv;Uors of the soil. 

 Every one is, of eoiiise, aj>:reeil as lo the im- 

 portuiioe of keopiiiii^ cultivated crops as free as possible 

 from these wiUliiijjs, yet tlieii- constant re-appearance 

 after repeated destruction, their natural vitfour antl 

 sjeneral luxurance of growth aic not aitOi;eliier dis- 

 advantageous to good gaideiiiiii;-. Weeds are really 

 aids to ellk-iency. inasmuch as they keep the hoe busy 

 throughout (he whole summer months, and thus the 

 soil is perforce kept open to an inter-change of air anil 

 the surface furnished willi a line Kiose niuKh thai tends 

 to conserve the soil 

 with water through 

 out the long days 

 of drought. That 

 weeds in themselves 

 are harmful, we 

 know too well ; they 

 take up Ml VI c li 

 needed space aiui 

 rob the crop plants 

 of food, air, light, 

 and moisture. They 

 also h a r b o u r or 

 otherwise encour- 

 age harmful insects 

 and injurious fungi, 

 and so induce un- 

 healthy conditions 

 of life. A most 

 useful ha nil book 

 dealing with the 

 weeds of farm and 

 garden, written by 

 Mr. Harold e'. 

 L o n g . o r t h e 

 English Board of 

 Agriculture, has 

 been recently pub- 

 lished by Smith, 

 Elder. & 'Co. * It 

 contains eleven 

 chapters, and is 



illustrated with over lOO original illustrations. The 

 author has brought together an interesting com- 

 pilation of facts concerning the subject upon which 

 he writes, and gardeners and lanil stewartis will 

 find it invaluable as a work of reference. To get 

 some notion of the number and variety of seeds 

 dormant in the soil, the author marked off a square 

 yard of soil in a wellcared-for garden, and on the 17th 

 May, 1909, removed by hand all the seedlings, and then 

 sorted and counted them. He gathered 1,050 seedlings 

 made up of over fourteen different species. If this is 

 the output in a '• weedless " garden, what must be the 

 potentialities in a neglected one ? Knowing that a com- 

 mon groundsel, for example, may produce 10,000 or 

 more seeds, and shepherd's purse over 4,000, in a 



'^ " Common Weeds of the Farm and Garden," by Harold C. Long, in 

 collaboration with John Perceval. London : Smith, Elder & Co. 



i-.inil cm 

 thorough cultivation 

 sowing clean seeii. 



The Coltsfoot l\ Si'ri.ng. 



(Showing its branched underground runners, strong fibrous root system, and cluster: 

 flowing stems produced before the unfolding of the large foliage leaves.— Ki 

 Long's "Common Weeds of Farm and Garden.") 



ingle season, the utility of pr>\oiiling the seeding of 

 niiual weeils in ;i g.iiden becomes \ery apparent. 



kept fairly free from weeds by 

 by the prevention of seeding, by 

 adopting intelligent rotation of 

 crops, and by keeping heilges, ditches and other boimd- 

 ries as clear as possible of wild plants likely to encroach 

 upon cultivated areas. As preventatives, troublesome 

 perennials such as biiul-weeils, couch grass, &c., may 

 In- ileeply huiii'd in lienchcs dug out for deeply rooting 

 plants. Law lis, it' infested with jilantain or daisies, may 

 be improved by sowing a mixture of sulphate of ammonia 

 and sanil, ;inil for the eradication of stubborn subjects like 

 patches of nettles, creeping thistles. &c., the .American 

 plan of covering with big sheets of tarred paper to 

 exclude liglit may 

 be tried. For paths, 

 a fairly effectual 

 weed killer ma) be 

 used consisting of 

 1 part of carbolic 

 acid / h,>>„ lar/i ly 

 iiiixiu/ with 4 pints 

 of water. The 

 usual proprietary 

 "weed killer" for 

 paths c o n t a i 11 s 

 sodium arsenate as 

 its chief constituent; 

 it is highly poison- 

 ous. An attempt 

 was made to ilis- 

 cover the " worst " 

 weeds on arable 

 lami bygi'tling the 

 opinion of cultiva- 

 tors throughout the 

 w hole length of 

 Britain. Ireland is 

 not included, but we 

 imagine somewhat 

 similar results 

 would be obtained 

 in this countr\' as 

 well. Beginning 

 with the most pre- 

 valent we have 

 (!) couch, (2) charlock, (3) docks, (4) thistles, (5) colts- 

 foot, (6) chick weed. {7) bindweed, (8) spurry. (9) poppies, 

 and then follow wild oats, knotweed, fat-hen, red-shanks, 

 groundsel, annual poa grass, nettles, cleavers, shep- 

 herd's purse, iS:c. 



\ vcvy important chapter is devoted to the subject of 

 our native poisonous plants, taking them in their 

 botanical order. The following are the plants listed : — 

 Monkshood (Acani/um Xapelliis), all parts are poisonous, 

 but the root deadly so. A gardener told us only the 

 other day of a mistake he made (luckily detected before 

 any harm was done) in sending into the kitchen roots 

 of this plant in mistake for horse radish. Buttercups, 

 several species frequently harmful to cattle, the celery- 

 leaved buttercup and lesser spearwort being especially 

 dangerous. Wood anemone. Larkspur, seeds very 

 poisonous. Hellebore, cows, according to Henslow, 



of 



