4 COMMON WEEDS 



grown. It is generally accepted as sound advice that 

 all such weeds as Couch, Creeping Thistle, and Bindweed 

 should be burnt, but the following note from The Times 

 (May 25, 1907) shows that the advice is not universally 

 adopted: "A suggestive example of the difference of 

 attitude towards weeds is to be seen in the parts of the 

 country where small cultivators flourish. Some years 

 ago in a Bedfordshire parish the farmers had been 

 busy at their normal task of clearing their fields of that 

 most pestilential weed known as Twitch, and they had 

 stacked the harvest by the side of the road before 

 carrying it off to the bonfire. But they were antici- 

 pated. The small cultivators seized on the heaps in 

 triumph, buried them deep in their plots, and are now 

 growing the best of true gardener's stuff from the bed 

 of this excellent fertiliser." Practical experience of the 

 same weed has convinced the author that there need 

 be no hesitation in following this plan, but trenching 

 must be well done. 



(e) It may be recalled here that v all our cultivated 

 crops have been derived from wild plants, and it is not 

 unlikely that certain " weeds " of to-day may become 

 valuable cultivated plants in the future, though they 

 would still be weeds if found growing in the wrong 

 place. For example, mangolds and beet have been 

 derived from the Beta maritima L., a wild plant of the 

 sea-shore ; and our cauliflowers, broccoli, and Brussels 

 sprouts are derivatives of the wild Brassica oleracea L., 

 certain organs of which have been exaggerated by 

 cultivation and selection. 



Certain plants sometimes spoken of as " weeds " are 

 useful in various ways. For example, rushes and 

 sedges, frequently troublesome in damp, low-lying land, 

 are often used for the manufacture of baskets and mats ; 

 Chicory (Cichorium Intybus), occasionally classed as a 



