A BUNCH OF HERBS 



pocket glass and see how wonderfully beautiful and 

 exquisite are its tiny blossoms. It loves the human 

 foot, and when the path or the place is long disused, 

 other plants usurp the ground. 



The gardener and the farmer are ostensibly the 

 greatest enemies of the weeds, but they are in reality 

 their best friends. Weeds, like rats and mice, in- 

 crease and spread enormously in a cultivated coun- 

 try. They have better food, more sunshine, and 

 more aids in getting themselves disseminated. They 

 are sent from one end of the land to the other in 

 seed grain of various kinds, and they take their 

 share, and more too, if they can get it, of the phos- 

 phates and stable manures. How sure, also, they 

 are to survive any war of extermination that is 

 waged against them ! In yonder field are ten thou- 

 sand and one Canada thistles. The farmer goes 

 resolutely to work and destroys ten thousand and 

 thinks the work is finished, but he has done nothing 

 till he has destroyed the ten thousand and one. 

 This one will keep up the stock and again cover 

 his field with thistles. 



Weeds are Nature's makeshift. She rejoices in 

 the grass and the grain, but when these fail to cover 

 her nakedness she resorts to weeds. It is in her 

 plan or a part of her economy to keep the ground 

 constantly covered with vegetation of some sort, 

 and she has layer upon layer of seeds in the soil 

 for this purpose, and the wonder is that each kind 

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