WEEDING- 379 



wanted. It may be either an absolute weed, such as are all plants of no 

 known use ; or a relative one, such as a useful plant where it comes up and 

 is not wanted among other useful plants, or on walks, walls, &c. Weeds 

 are injurious by depriving the soil of the nutriment destined for other plants ; 

 by depriving other plants of the space they occupy, as in the case of weeds 

 in beds of seedlings, and of broad-leaved plants on lawns ; by their shade, 

 when they are allowed to grow large ; and by their mere existence, as when 

 they appear on gravel- walks. In those parts of gardens where the soil is 

 kept constantly pulverised on the surface, the most numerous weeds consist 

 of annual plants ; but among the grass of lawns, and sometimes among crops 

 which remain in one place for more than a year, perennial weeds also make 

 their appearance. The seeds of weeds are brought into gardens by stable 

 dung, by birds, by the wind, by fresh soil brought in for the renewal of 

 borders, for compost, &c., and by some other sources ; and they are perpe- 

 tuated there by being allowed to come to maturity and shed their seeds. 

 The obvious mode of preventing the existence of all absolute weeds, whether 

 annual or perennial, would be to prevent all weeds, whether hi gardens or 

 fields, from ripening seeds, by cutting them down before they come into 

 flower ; and this, we think, ought to be made an object of national concern 

 for the sake of the agriculture of the country, even more than for its gar- 

 dening. Prices per peck or per bushel might be offered for the unopened 

 flower-buds of different weeds, according to their bulk or frequency, to be 

 paid by parish-officers to such children and infirm persons as might find it 

 worth while to collect them, nothing being paid for those buds which have 

 been suffered to expand. This practice, we are informed, exists in some 

 parts of France and in Bavaria ; but to be effective in any country it ought 

 to be general. In the mean time, all that can be done is to destroy weeds 

 as fast as they appear. 



814. Annual weeds among growing crops are readily destroyed in dry 

 weather by hoeing, and leaving them, if very young, to die where they have 

 grown ; but if large, they may be raked off and wheeled to the compost 

 ground, where mixed with soil or with other putrescent matters, they will 

 be speedily decomposed and rendered fit for manure. Wherever casings of 

 dung or other fermenting materials to hotbeds are in use, weeds, if laid on 

 them or mixed with them, will assist in aiding fermentation ; or when dig- 

 ging and trenching are going forward, they may be buried in the soil at 

 once. In hoeing up annual weeds, it is sufficient, as far as regards their 

 destruction, to cut them over beneath the seed-leaves, which commonly rest 

 on the surface of the ground ; but as the object of hoeing is commonly not 

 only to destroy weeds but to stir the soil, the hoe ought to be thrust in much 

 deeper in order to attain both objects. In moist soils and in moist weather, 

 care must be taken not to hoe so deep as partially to bury the weeds, which 

 in that case, instead of being destroyed, may be said to undergo a kind of 

 transplantation. Weeds among broadcast crops which stand thick on the 

 ground, such as onions, spinach, &c., require to be pulled up by hand ; and 

 for this purpose a moist state of the soil is preferable, but not so much as to 

 occasion poaching by the feet of the weeder, unless indeed the plants should 

 be in beds, where they may be weeded immediately after the heaviest rains. 



815. Perennial weeds, except when they are quite young and not far 

 advanced beyond the sead-leaf, when they may be treated as annuals, require 

 more care to eradicate than annual weeds. Their roots generally must be 



