226 A BUNCH OF HERBS. 



"In dusty pods the milkweed 

 Its hidden silk has spun," 



sings " H H.," in her " September." 



Of our ragweed not much can be set down that is 

 complimentary, except that its name in the botany ia 

 Ambrosia, food of the gods. It must be the food of 

 the gods if of anything, for, so far as I have observed, 

 nothing terrestrial eats it, not even billy-goats. (Yet> 

 a correspondent writes me that in Kentucky the cat- 

 tle eat it when hard pressed, and that a certain old 

 farmer there, one season when the hay crop failed, 

 cut and harvested tons of it for his stock in winter. 

 It is said that the milk and butter made from such 

 hay is not at all suggestive of the traditional Am- 

 brosia !) It is the bane of asthmatic patients, but the 

 gardener makes short work of it. It is about the 

 only one of our weeds that follows the plow and the 

 harrow, and, except that it is easily destroyed, I 

 would suspect it to be an immigrant from the Old 

 World. Our fleabane is a troublesome weed at times, 

 but good husbandry has little to dread from it. 



But all the other outlaws of the farm and garden 

 come to us from over seas ; and what a long list it is 



The common thistle, Gill, 



The Canada thistle, Nightshade, 



Burdock, Buttercup, 



Yellow dock, Dandelion, * 



Wild carrot, Wild mustard, 



Ox-eye daisy, Shepherd's purse, 



Chamomile, St. John's-wort, 



The mullein, Chickweed, 



