USES OF WEEDS 201 



Silene inflata (Bladder campion). The boiled leaves are 

 supposed to taste like peas or asparagus. They are eaten by 

 the natives of Zante, 1 and were also used by the inhabitants 

 of Minorca in 1655 after the corn crop had been destroyed by 

 locusts. 2 



Sonchus oleraceus (Common sowthistle). The bitter milky 

 roots have occasionally been used for making bread. 3 The 

 leaves were formerly eaten in Italy as salad, but have long 

 been replaced by more palatable plants. 4 Hares and rabbits 

 are greedily fond of the leaves, goats like it, and other animals 

 often feed upon the plant. 



Spergula arvensis (Spurry). Although spurry is regarded 

 simply as a pestilent weed in this country, it is much valued 

 abroad as cattle food. Beasts, sheep, and poultry are very 

 fond of it, and it has excellent fattening properties. Old 

 writers state that in the Low Countries two crops can be 

 obtained in a year, the first from a May sowing, when the 

 plants ripen seed in August, and the second from a sowing 

 made after rye harvest, which provides feed until the New 

 Year. 5 The crop is either used as pasture, cut green, or 

 made into hay. It improves the mutton of sheep and the 

 milk and butter of cows, and is said to cause hens to lay more 

 freely. 3 The seeds can be ground into a kind of flour, which 

 makes a fair bread, especially if mixed with wheat or rye flour. 

 It is often used for this purpose in Norway and Finland, 

 particularly when other crops are short. 6 The seeds, when 

 bruised, form a good cattle food, and when expressed they also 

 yield a good lamp oil. 



Stellaria media (Chickweed). Is of little use except as 

 food for birds and pigs, which are very fond of it. It has 

 been boiled for use as spinach, and is said to have some 

 nutritive value when treated in this way. 3 German experi- 

 ments indicate that the weed has considerable manurial value, 

 as it contains about 10*9 per cent, of potash. 7 



Taraxacum vulgar e (Dandelion). In the time of Gerarde 

 and Parkinson this was much valued for medicinal purposes, 

 and it is still recognised in therapeutics, though it does not 

 rank high in value. The ground root is sometimes mixed 

 with chocolate to make a palatable kind of dandelion tea. 8 



1 Knapp, loc. cit. 2 Hogg and Johnson, loc. cit. 



3 Wilson, loc. cit. * Lindley and Moore, loc. cit. 



5 Houghton (1728), " Husbandry and Trade Improved," II, p. 374. 

 6 Pratt, loc. cit. 7 Kling, loc. cit. 



8 Johnson, loc. cit. 



