118 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



develops into a large rank growth, occupying much room, 

 and propagating itself abundantly by its downy seeds. 

 A meadow well sprinkled over with the plants, each of 

 them three or four feet high, and a mass of golden 

 blossom at their summits, is a strikingly picturesque 

 feature in the landscape, though possibly the human 

 occupier of the ground may resent their presence. It is, 

 however, a sight that one so often sees some meadows 

 having the plants in scores that we can only conclude that 

 the farmers either lack energy or do not think the space 

 it encroaches on as being of much, value ; for a boy sent 

 in for half a day would soon level them to the ground and 

 lay their beauty low. It may quickly be pulled up by 

 hand, if only the operation be performed in moist weather ; 

 if any considerable fibres be left in the ground the roots 

 strike again. All such plants as the rag-wort or the 

 various species of thistle should, if not absolutely eradi- 

 cated, be cut down before their seeds ripen and get 

 dispersed over the whole country-side ; and this is a parti- 

 cularly easy thing to do, as they can be attacked at most 

 advantage when their golden or purple tufts of flowers 

 render them most conspicuously visible. It has been 

 suggested that the plant might be used for dyeing, but we 

 are not aware that the matter has ever been put to the true 

 test of experience. Many people conclude that if a plant 

 has bright and showy red or yellow or blue flowers, that 

 such plant should yield a good red, yellow, or blue dye; 

 but the properties that make them valuable as tinctorial 

 plants are rarely found in the blossoms, and some of the 

 best vegetable dyes come from plants that have little out- 

 ward beauty, while the dyes they yield do not agree in 

 tint with the colour of their blossoms. 



