CHAPTER XX 

 WEEDS 



Weeds Good Fighters. Weeds are plants that 

 grow where they are not wanted. Their seeds, 

 allowed to grow in the crops, take the lion's share 

 of plant food, moisture, and light. Thus weeds rob 

 and choke out the farmer's crop. 



Annuals. In order to fight weeds, the farmer 

 must know how they grow and how they send forth 

 their weed children. There are three classes of 

 weeds. Many come up from seeds, blossom, ripen 

 their seeds, and die in one year. Some of these 

 annuals are wild mustard, ragweed and purslane. 



Biennial Weeds. These plants live two years. 

 The first year they come up from the seed, grow, 

 and store up food in their roots, but bear no seed. 

 When winter comes all the plant above ground dies. 

 The next year it sends up branches again, produces 

 seed, and dies, root and all. Some of the trouble- 

 some biennials are dandelion, barn grass, wild 

 parsnip, bull thistle, and burdock. (Fig. 92.) 



Perennials. Plants of this class live from year 

 to year. They grow sometimes from seeds but also 

 from underground stems or from runners above 

 ground. Among them are the Canada thistle (Fig. 

 91), quack grass, cow thistle, yellow dock, milk- 

 weed, morning glory, and wild onion. 



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