204 WEEDS OF FARM LAND 



Steps were taken to organise the collection and culti- 

 vation of nettles, with the result that by 1918 it was 

 estimated that 23,000 hectares ( = 9292 acres) would be 

 under nettle cultivation in Germany, with an estimated yield 

 of 175,000 metric cwt of fibre. The cultivation of nettles 

 has also been encouraged in Hungary, a special company 

 being formed to further the work. The plants will grow well 

 on ground that is of little agricultural value, and in some 

 plantations they have developed into shrubs as high as a 

 man. In other cases plantations have been formed on moor- 

 land which is unsuitable for growing food crops, and it is 

 claimed that by doing this the land is subjected to a process 

 of slow, natural cultivation that in time will increase the 

 agricultural value of the land 



Nettles when cut and dried can be used as fodder for 

 domesticated animals. The latter will not touch the growing 

 plants because of the stinging hairs, but shortly after cutting 

 these hairs collapse from loss of water and are then innocuous. 

 Nettles have long been cultivated in Sweden, as they can 

 be grown on waste or poor land and are very resistant to 

 extreme temperatures. 1 One great advantage is their rapid 

 growth ; with judicious cutting three crops a year can be 

 obtained. Even where regular cutting is not practised the 

 leaves and seeds are often collected and dried as winter food 

 for fowls. The leaves are boiled in water to the consistency 

 of gruel, and are then mixed with cooked potato peelings, 

 while the seeds are added to other food and are found to 

 stimulate egg production. Analyses made by Professor 

 Hendrick 2 show that nettles may be very useful as feeding 

 stuff. Young nettles from 12 to 1 8 inches high sampled in 

 May contain much fat and ash, and as much albuminoid 

 material as linseed cake. Older nettles cut in July are more 

 fibrous and contain more soluble carbohydrates, but the per- 

 centage of nitrogen is higher than that in grasses. These 

 figures indicate that dried nettles cut at the flowering stage 

 are similar in analysis to hay made from leguminous crops. 

 A yellow dye is obtained if the roots are boiled with alum, 

 and the seeds when mixed with corn improve the appearance 

 of horses, and it is said that horse dealers use them to give a 



1 Garcia Santos (1916), A Vinha Portugueza, XXXI, No. 9, pp. 276-280. 



2 National Food Jour, (nth Sept., 1918). See also Jour. Bd. Agric., 

 Vol. XXV, p. 992, 1918. 



