A BUNCH OF HERBS 205 



the common and abundant one everywhere, in fields 

 and along highways, is the European species; while 

 the native thistles, swamp thistle, pasture thistle, 

 etc., are much more shy, and are not at all trouble- 

 some. The Canada thistle, too, which came to us 

 by way of Canada, — what a pest, what a usurper, 

 what a defier of the plow and the harrow ! I know 

 of but one effectual way to treat it, — put on a pair 

 of buckskin gloves, and pull up every plant that 

 shows itself; this will effect a radical cure in two 

 summers. Of course the plow or the scythe, if not 

 allowed to rest more than a month at a time, will 

 finally conquer it. 



Or take the common St. John's- wort, — how has 

 it established itself in our fields and become a most 

 pernicious weed, very difficult to extirpate; while 

 the native species are quite rare, and seldom or 

 never invade cultivated fields, being found mostly 

 in wet and rocky waste places. Of Old World 

 origin, too, is the curled-leaf dock that is so annoy- 

 ing about one's garden and home meadows, its long 

 tapering root clinging to the soil with such tenacity 

 that I have pulled upon it till I could see stars 

 without budging it; it has more lives than a cat, 

 making a shift to live when pulled up and laid on 

 top of the ground in the burning summer sun. Our 

 native docks are mostly found in swamps, or near 

 them, and are harmless. 



Purslane — commonly called " pusley, " and which 

 has given rise to the saying, " as mean as pusley " 

 — of course is not American. A good sample of 



