A BUNCH OF HERBS 



native orpine, Sedum ternatum and S. tel~ 

 ephioides, are never troublesome as weeds. 



The European weeds are sophisticated, 

 domesticated, civilized ; they have been to 

 school to man for many hundred years, and 

 they have learned to thrive upon him : their 

 struggle for existence has been sharp and 

 protracted ; it has made them hardy and 

 prolific ; they will thrive in a lean soil, or 

 they will wax strong in a rich one ; in all 

 cases they follow man and profit by him. 

 Our native weeds, on the other hand, are 

 furtive and retiring; they flee before the 

 plow and the scythe, and hide in corners and 

 remote waste places. Will they, too, in 

 time, change their habits in this respect ? 



"Idle weeds are fast in growth," says 

 Shakespeare, but that depends upon whe- 

 ther the competition is sharp and close. 

 If the weed finds itself distanced, or pitted 

 against great odds, it grows more slowly 

 and is of diminished stature, but let it once 

 get the upper hand and what strides it 

 makes ! Red - root will grow four or five 

 feet high if it has a chance, or it will con- 

 tent itself with a few inches and mature its 

 seed almost upon the ground. 



Many of our worst weeds are plants that 

 '53 



