202 WEEDS OF FARM LAND 



Theophrastus considered that the plant was too bitter to be 

 fit for human food, but nowadays the young leaves are blanched 

 and much relished in spring salads. The French people eat 

 the young roots as well as the blanched leaves with bread and 

 butter, 1 and in parts of Germany the roots are roasted, ground, 

 and drunk instead of coffee by the poorer people, who claim 

 that the beverage so prepared can hardly be distinguished 

 from genuine coffee. 2 As fodder it is much liked by rabbits, 

 pigs, and goats, but sheep and cattle do not care for it and 

 horses will not touch it. 3 The leaves are sometimes used for 

 feeding silkworms when mulberry leaves are not available. 4 



Tussilago farfara (Coltsfoot). For many centuries the 

 plant has been used in chest and lung troubles. Even in 

 Pliny we read: "If the root of F'olefoot be burnt upon the 

 coles made with Cypres wood the smoke ... is singular for 

 an old cough ". The leaves have certain demulcent and 

 pectoral properties, and are employed in the manufacture of 

 British herb tobacco, of which they form the chief ingredient, 

 and which was formerly much used in chest complaints. 3 The 

 smoking of the plant was strongly recommended by the old 

 writers. The cottony down from the leaves has sometimes 

 been utilised for filling pillows and cushions, 5 and it also 

 makes a most excellent tinder when wrapped in a rag, dipped 

 in a solution of saltpetre, and dried in the sun. 



Ulex europaeus (Gorse). Although this can hardly be 

 reckoned as an ordinary farm weed, it has so many uses that 

 it may find a place here. In spite of its spiny habit it forms 

 a most excellent forage, though the older branches need to 

 be bruised with a mallet before being fed. Old writers say 

 that cattle appreciate it greatly and fatten on it as well as they 

 do on turnips, that the milk of cows is as plentiful as though 

 they were fed on grass, and the butter produced of excellent 

 quality. 6 More recent work indicates that the gorse should be 

 well crushed and freshly prepared, in order to prevent fermen- 

 tation. 7 Mountain sheep thrive better when fed on gorse than 

 on grass. 8 Horses prefer it to hay or even to corn, but as it tends 

 to fatten them very much it is less suited for working animals. 



1 Stephenson, J., and Churchill, J. M., loc. cit. 



2 Woodville, loc. cit. 



3 Hogg and Johnson, loc. cit. 4 Lindley and Moore, loc. cit. 



5 Pratt, loc. cit. G Wilson, loc. cit. 



7 Fau, E., L'lndustrie Laitttre (1910), No. 42, pp. 677-679. 



8 Andrews, loc. cit. 



