9 



perimental work in connection with the Experimental Union. A large 

 number of answers were received; and as part of the information contained 

 therein is not given elsewhere in the bulletin, some of the answers are 

 briefly referred to below. The questions were as follows : 



1. What is the character of the soil in your township ? This was to 

 ascertain what species of weeds grow most abundantly in certain kinds 

 of soil ; and the information obtained will be found with the descriptions 

 of the different weeds in the following pages. 



2. Are the weeds in your neighborhood more numerous and more 

 troublesome than they were ten years ago? The majority of the corres- 

 pondents say that weeds are far more numerous than they were, and 

 that the injury done by them is far greater. The Canada Thistle, how- 

 ever, is spoken of as much less troublesome than it was, a fact due, no 

 doubt, to the vigorous methods taken to eradicate it from cultivated land, 

 and in a less degree to the law for its destruction on the highways. 



3. Are the provisions of the weed law enforced in your township ? 

 About 95 per cent, answer no most emphatically. They say that a 

 number of townships appoint men to look after the Canada Thistle, but 

 that little or nothing is done with other weeds. " The township council 

 takes no action, because the councillors are afraid of losing votes at the 

 next election." "Pathmasters do not enforce the Act, for fear of incurring 

 the enmity of neighbors " ; and " rented farms, especially such as belong 

 to loan companies, are often overrun with weeds, to the great injury of 

 neighboring farmers." 



4. What is the estimated annual loss ivhich you sustain from weeds? 

 Some of the answers to this question are amusing, but the great majority 

 of them show a full appreciation of the fact that a serious loss undoubt- 

 edly results from the existence of weeds among farm crops. 



Some consider the weeds a blessing in disguise, as they compel lazy 

 and careless farmers to keep on cultivating the soil ; and very many, in 

 making their estimate, seem wholly to overlook the loss from the use of 

 plant food and the absorption of soil moisture by weeds. A number 

 estimate their loss at twenty -five cents per acre, and quite a few place it 

 as high as $5 per acre ; so, considering the whole list and counting labor, 

 with the loss of soil moisture, fertility, etc., we think that $1.00 per acre 

 is a conservative estimate of the annual loss throughout the Province. 



5. What means do you use to destroy the weeds on your farm ? and 

 with what success ? Many full answers were given to this question ; and 

 the most valuable information contained in these answers has been set 

 forth under various heads in the descriptions which follow. One point, 

 however, which is strongly emphasized by many, may be mentioned in 

 passing, viz., that no method, however good it may be, is of any use, 

 unless it is faithfully carried out. A lack of thoroughness in the work 

 done for the destruction of weeds always results in failure. 



