WASTE PLACES 



■^53 



Alriplex paliila and .1. lutstnla, find a suitable 

 habitat in the loose sand ; and other common 

 types are : Festiica nihya. Ononis repi'ns, 

 Lotus corniculatus, Krodium cicutarium, Cau- 

 calis arvensis (now rare inland), Rnmex 

 crispus, Senecio Jacobcva, Taraxacum ciythro- 

 spermum, Hypochcvris radicala, Sambucus 

 nigra, Tri/olium npens, T. pratense, T. 

 arvense, Riibtis rusticanus, Poientilla reptans, 

 P. anserina, Sedum acre (mural), Oaliiiin 

 venim, Crepis virens, Hieracium Pilosella, 

 Leontodon autumnale, Carlina, Cnicns an'ensis, 

 Mvosotis coUina, Thymus Scrpylhim, Holcus 

 mollis, Cynoglossum officinale, Anihyllis vul- 

 neraria, CEnothcra biennis, the last common 

 upon the Lancashire coast. The orifjin of 

 these plants is diverse, man)' comint;; from 

 pasture or arable close to the sea. 



Cart-roads. ^.-^ cart-road is very similar to 

 an ordinary roadside, along which, as has 

 been shown (Section VI), a number of plants 

 are dispersed by artificial agency. The high- 

 way, however, is regularly made up with 

 macadam, whereas the cart-road is more or 

 less left to itself, and the ruts and middle way 

 alone are regularly used, whilst the intervening 

 spaces are grass-grown, or loose or broken. 

 I'pon such spots a number of plants grow 

 which are foreign to the pasture through 

 which such cart-ways are made to reach the 

 highway; also along roads that are primarily 

 used for agricultural purposes. 



Naturally the character of the weeds so 

 dispersed depends largely upon the character 

 of the arable or pasture. It is an interesting 

 study to trace the distribution of such weeds 

 from their probable source, and the process by 

 which this has been accomplished. The White 

 Campion is one of the most prevalent plants 

 distributed by this means. Viper's Bugloss 

 is a handsome plant which is frequent upon 

 chalky soils, but may be found elsewhere 

 distributed by farming operations. The Corn- 

 cockle, now rare in cornfields, is to be found 

 by the side of a cart-track, or more frequently 

 in some districts in or near a fowl-run, dis- 

 persed in fowl corn. On sandy soils Knotted 

 Hedge Parsley is often to be found on the side 

 of cart ruts, its usual habitat being a hedge 

 bank. 



Melilot is found on towing-paths and in 

 other waste places. Mayweed is a common 

 straggler along the cart-road. Wormwood is 

 conspicuous in hedges along the borders of 

 arable fields or the roads (hat lead from them. 

 The Burdock, Chicory, Yellow Toadfiax, and 

 Hemp Nettle are others that should be men- 

 tioned here. 



Railway Embankments, Canal Banks. — One 

 of the most potent factors in the distribution 



of weeds of cultivation and alii'ns is the rad- 

 way or the canal. The railway embankment, 

 especially in low-lying areas, forms a direct 

 barrier to the dispersal of seeds blown by the 

 wind across countrj-. The embankment, which 

 is often lofty, thus tends to accumulate or 

 "make a corner in" the seeds so dispersed. 

 .And although a great number of such seeds 

 doubtless do not come to maturity, yet a large 

 proportion evidently do survive; and once they 

 have gained a foothold manage to persist in 

 a remarkably successful manner. 



The same remarks apply to a canal, which, 

 though not usually cut through embankments, 

 affords the same means of dispersal, though 

 the plants dispersed are not usually of the 

 same species. 



The mode of dispersal along railwa) s and 

 canals is difficult to determine. Many plants, 

 apart from the part played by the track as a 

 barrier, are dispersed by falling out, or blowing 

 out, of seeds from goods wagons. In the up- 

 keep of the line, or the canal, horse traffic is 

 responsible for the dispersion of fodder plants. 

 The goods yard and the coal wharf are centres 

 of distribution of such plants, and so are colliery 

 sidings. The gardens maintained by railway 

 employees along the line are also important 

 factors in the spreading of plants along the line. 

 Plants commonly found on railway banks are 

 the Toadflaxes (including hybrids), Melilot, 

 Mountain Crane's Bill, Euphorbia Cyparissias, 

 Anthyllis Vulneraria, Lamb's Lettuce, Brassica 

 \apus. 



Stackyards and Farmyards. —.\s thr store- 

 house of the crops, a stackyard is a centre of 

 dispersal for the inajority of agrestal plants, 

 which grow up with the corn, and are cut 

 with it, the seeds falling out during cartage, 

 or in the winnowing or threshing being blown 

 out in the process. The area around a stack 

 is open, being kept clear of weeds, so that there 

 is ever\' possibility of the successful germination 

 and growth of such plants. 



The farmyard forms a similar dumping 

 ground for a number of pasture and arable 

 soil plants that grow luxuriantly in the open 

 ground, or near manure-heaps. The origin 

 of such weeds differs from that of those of the 

 stackyard to some extent (or rather the in- 

 direct dispersal). Primarily they come from 

 the meadow (as hay), or from the cornfield (as 

 straw). Hay is used as fodder for live-stock, 

 and in this way seeds in the refuse, or in the 

 carriage of hay from the stack to the stable or 

 cowshed, get dispersed. The same applies to 

 straw. But the refuse hay and the straw used 

 for bedding are utilized as a sort of binding for 

 manure, and in this and the latter, when 

 turned out in the farmyard, seeds retaining 



