HINDRANCES TO SUCCESSFUL FAR:\IIXG. 97 



to a plant, and the length of tunc they will lie in the ground 

 without losing their vitality is marvellous. I will only men- 

 tion a few of the most pestilent. The dock has to each stalk 

 13,000 seeds ; the INIay weed, 40,000 ; charlock, 4,000 ; bur- 

 dock, 24,000. There does not seem to be any limit to the 

 period during which these seeds will preserve their vitality. 

 I have known a piece of land that had not certainly been 

 ploughed for thirty j'ears, which, after the first ploughing in 

 spring, was yellow with^the blossom of the charlock, or " cad- 

 lock," as commonly called. Dock seed has been known to 

 have been in the ground twenty years and then germinate. 

 The seeds of plants, too, will preserve their vitality after 

 having passed through the process of digestion if they have 

 not been crushed in mastication. 



Most of the annuals can be destroyed b}' mowing them or 

 destroying the seeds as with the daisy rake. Although 

 daisies are perennial they do not spread much from the 

 roots, and are destroyed by ploughing under deep. The 

 ox-eyed daisy is by no means so vile a thing as the wild 

 carrot, which has come upon us within a few years, covering 

 highway sides and some fields till they look like a buckwheat 

 crop in l)loom. 



If a farmer starts soon enough there is no great troul)le, 

 but only eternal vigilance to be exercised to keep rid of these 

 two nuisances. As soon as the first one is seen pull it by the 

 roots. The carrot don't show itself much till after mowing ; 

 then it throws its seed stalk up, with its white blossoms, very 

 conspicuously, and is easily found and pulled. The dock 

 must be taken out in the spring by the spade. I am satis- 

 fied that the seeds of the dock, daisy and other weeds arrive 

 at a degree of ripeness to germinate sooner than we suppose. 

 The Canada thistle flourishes on strong, heavy land ; it can 

 be killed hy persistent cutting in August. Sorrel is one of 

 the most pestilent of weeds, and most difficult to eradicate. 

 It ripens its seeds before one is ready to mow, and reap- 

 pears, year after year, unmolested by the plough and indifier- 

 ent to manure. " Butter and eggs," or toad flax, a pretty, 

 yellow-flowering weed, is a troublesome one, and will spread 

 unless it is uprooted. All weeds will yield to heavy manur- 

 ing and thorough cultivation, the chief point being to kill 



