USES OF WEEDS 5 



weed, is extensively cultivated for its roots, which are 

 dried and ground for use as a partial substitute for 

 coffee, and its foliage is sometimes fed off with sheep ; 

 Spurrey is one of our worst weeds in certain districts, 

 but a form of it is widely grown as a fodder crop in 

 Belgium and elsewhere ; the Dandelion, a very trouble- 

 some weed, is gathered for the purpose of making 

 " dandelion tea" and " dandelion wine," and is fre- 

 quently cultivated for use in salads ; Watercress, a weed 

 of shallow streams, is also an important salad through- 

 out the country ; even Couch, that pest of arable land, 

 is not without its use, for its white underground stems 

 are gathered in some places and cooked for food, 

 chiefly, we believe, in Italy; while Groundsel, than 

 which no commoner garden weed exists, is an excellent 

 green food for cage birds. 



Deadly Nightshade, Foxglove, Poppy, Meadow Saffron, 

 Aconite, all poisonous plants, contain certain substances 

 which are greatly used in medical practice. 



Finally, it should never be forgotten by those who 

 love a garden that many so-called weeds are in them- 

 selves elegant and delightful to the eye, even if un- 

 desirable among the crops with which they grow, and 

 are sufficiently beautiful to lend grace to the most 

 charming of gardens, while many of the cultivated 

 flowering plants are derivatives of varieties of wild 

 forms which in their native land are counted as 

 " weeds." Various coloured Cornflowers are forms of 

 the Corn Blue-bottle (Centaurea Cyanus); Shirley Poppies 

 were derived from the wild red Poppy, and may them- 

 selves easily become weeds; Meadow Saffron is also 

 grown in gardens for its beauty, while it is a very 

 poisonous weed of grass land ; many other similar 

 examples might be mentioned. 



No weed is more attractive in its simplicity and colour 



