A BUNCH OF HERBS. 231 



The way to di DWD an amphibious animal is to nevei 

 allow it to come to the surface to breathe, and this is 

 the way to kill live-forever. It lives by its stalk 

 and leaf, more than by its root, and if cropped or 

 bruised as soon as it comes to the surface it will in 

 time perish. It laughs the plow, the hoe, the cultiva- 

 tor to scorn, but grazing herds will eventually scotch 

 it. Oar two species of native orpine, S. ternatum 

 and S. telephioides are never troublesome as weeds. 



The European weeds are sophisticated, domesti- 

 cated, civilized ; they have been to school to man 

 for many hundred years and they have learned to 

 thrive upon him; their struggle for existence has 

 been sharp and protracted ; it has made them hardy 

 and prolific ; they wi.ll thrive in a lean soil, or they 

 will wax strong in a rich one ; in all cases they fol- 

 low man and profit by him. Our native weeds, on 

 the other hand, are furtive and retiring; they flee 

 before the plow and the scythe, and hide in corners 

 and remote waste places. Will they, too, in time, 

 change their habits in this respect ? 



" Idle weeds are fast in growth," says Shakespeare, 

 iit that depends whether the competition is sharp 

 %nd close. If the weed finds itself distanced, or 

 litted against great odds, it grows more slowly and 

 i s of diminished stature, but let it once get the upper 

 hand and what strides it makes ! Red-root will grow 

 four or five feet high, if it has a chance, or it will 

 extent itself with a few inches and mature its seed 

 almost upon the ground* 



