38 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



tie in winlor 1 ho very last season, I shw ),o- when green, yet it vegclates so much sooner 

 tiitoe lops and l.nr.loclt leaves voliinlaiily eaten [ than other griisse?, (hat ihey, ami especialK 

 by cows that had benn well kept on goo,! hay { sheep, are glad to snatch at it in sprin-, which 

 and potatoes. Most weeds, therefore, that in- ! check- its growth ; while their manure brin-rs 

 lest your grass ground-, since (hey seldom ap- j in other gra-ses that take its place. " 



pearJilMhe grass begins (o decline, are a real | It h said to be a misei^able lood lor cattle, and 



[August 26^ 



benefit by eking out the crop. ICthey require 

 cutting before the grass, you mii-t chon^^e be- 

 tween the two crops, as one of then'i niusl be 

 last, unless, as is sometimes done with yellow 

 weed, you take one crop of weeds in season to 

 gel ri'inlher nf gr.iss. 



VViiti respect to the plant in question, 1 should 

 certainly consider it a very harmless weed, and 

 by no m -ans an un|)ro(iial.le grass. Indeed the 

 very piece referred to, lak^n n connection with 

 the editor's remarks, containing some truth, and 

 more contradiction, could hardly fail to con- 

 vince one of the innocence, if not utility of this 

 plant. The editor calls it a barren subject, 

 while the writer says it is spreading in all di- 

 rections. He says he is unacquainted with the 

 manner of its increase, and believes the seed 

 furnished with wing*, &c. Kut if he will fake 

 the trouble to examine, he will find that every 

 blossom produces from two to three hundred 

 seeds which are not indeed furnished with wint's, 



if slablers did not reject if, their horses would. 

 We beseech them to try the enperimenl, and if 

 iheir horses are really as tenacious of their 

 prejudices as their masters, we will, for a le.ss 

 Slim than has been given for Saxony sheep, fur- 

 nish them with a breed that willingly eat, aDd 

 rajiiilly fatten on it. 



The editor'-i rec(/mmcnc!ation to cut this weed 

 early, is good ; and proves him to be a saga- 

 cious farmer nulmllislanding his prejudice on 

 this subject. If followed, il will convince both 

 men anri cattle of ihe value of this plant ; and 

 when this is done, they will have no. desire to 

 see it eradicated. 



In short we would intreaf our brethren of the 

 old state to treat this 'rogue and vagabond,' if 

 they must needs have it so, as their laws re- 

 quire other rogues and vagabonds to be treated: 



i.c 



let if be lawfully apprehended and profitably 

 employed; and my word for it, it will prove as 



ed their premises. They say if it is cut early, cattle 

 will eat it ; but it produce, a very small crop, iiilrucies 

 itself into every part of their lands under cultivation, 

 and wherever it is allowed to obtain a settlement, it 

 supplants every ve'etable of more value. 



" .NolaD" thinks the name of this plant " unfortun- 

 ate." If it were not named a uecd, he seems to sup- 

 pose it would be quite a favorite g-ra«. The Complete 

 Farmer's Dictionary defines a weed to be " any plant 

 I jrowin- iu a field different from what the larmer intend- 

 ed." few farmers in this part of the country inlend 

 the Chrysanthemum shall grow in their fields if they 

 can avoid it. Of course in this vicinity according to 

 the above definitions, it is a weed. Nme says " 1 haz- 

 and little in raying that one third of all the hay made 

 in this vicinity consists of white weed. In (hat quar- 

 ter of the country then fto wit, somewhere in Maine] 

 let it be called grass ; forasmuch as hay is nf ither 

 more nor less than dried grass. We will, if we please 

 with Note's leave, call it a weerf in fllassathusetts : hut 

 we will allow that this w.fd, like most, if not all other 

 weeds, has its uses. We will go farther, and say that 

 when a poor farmer owns a poor soil on which he cau 



instead of «ssailing il with abusive epithets! ""e^otCbXtir" ?"""";" """' "^ "" 

 it be lawfully auurehended and nrolit.hU T' "'°"""' ''^"^'^ "^"" """« «'«'"'' and wants the 



but he as quiet on your barn floor as oats or I peaceable and harmless as anyone inmate of 

 barley ; and are nearly as valuable for cattle or \ their houses of correction Nf^T E 



It IS the oil and farina of these seeds ?■ ' iiui.T. 



NEW ENGLAN D FAKMfiR. 



FHfUAY, AUGU-ST 19, 1826. 



It win be seen by a prec^Jdhi^article, that White 

 Weed, which, generally sustains a bad, or at least a 

 doubtful character in Massachusetts, has a strfnuou. 

 advocate in Maine. If it is indeed a valuable plant, 

 mstead of a weed of little value, we have deserved but 

 I little short of the penalties attached to defamation, 

 I for comparing it to " ro-ues and vagabonds." But we 

 have some teslimony against white weed, which may 



swine. 



. . - '■■■ ..... wi iiitjvj C5^;t;ii3 



which render white weed, if made in Ihe prop- 

 er season, before it is loo ripe, the best hay for 

 working oxen thai we possess. Its great in- 

 crease is doublless owin-r (o ils blooming early, 

 and shedding ils seed before the grass is mown ; 

 nnd though these .seeds cannot vegetate in a rich 

 and vigorous crop of grass, ihev remain ready 

 to catch any vacancy; and as other grasses de- 

 cline, come in to supply their place. 



He says it does not make its appearance in til- 

 lage lanil while under the ploff* (where in- 

 deed If might be hurtful) but sprSgs up among , „. 



the grass, where il is certainly useful. .So far J»° "«'^'' t» justify what we have heretofore asserted 

 '^ ii'V^f'u ^"' '''"^ ^''''1 "^l^sely examine, be j ^''- •'"''n Sinclair, in a work of high authority euti 

 wil tin.l that it does appear in tillage land ; fho' ; '1^^^ " Statistical account of Scotland" vol. Ill pa^e 4 

 w.lb anod cultivHiion i( is generally destroyed M«y^" The late Sir William Grierson, of Lao- inScot' 

 by lue plough or the hoe, before ils blossoms 'and was so attentive to have his land cleared'i.f weeds 

 appear: in helds badly cullivaled, however, it ' that he hcdd ,<,o„Krhrysan.hemum) courts LoT.t: 



fasi„n as to Le Ihe e'x cnse S^r e ' vhe i ' L7d'"f T"; T' "''"' "' """ "' ''" ^^"' -^- 



the land IS to be laid down. Nature fore' eein" T^' t """ '"""'"' ^^"" '" '"^ '' «'^"- 



that Ihe indolent cultivator .H,;,ld be too po^ ' ['f "^'"Vi"^^ Agricultural State of Scotland," vol. 

 to purchase grass see.l, and unwiilino- that anv i'!!!"'" '"'"' " Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris): 



pari of her domain should lie idle, has ppepar- i "' '"'^"' '^'"'^'^''*"'y""'"'"'"'" Leucanthemum) 



ed this, which together with s,„rel, and while J "" "' '° """'""^ ^ "ature, that no animal will eat ei- 

 clover, will make out a tolerable crop wilhout I"""'' ""'"""""P''"'''' ^^ "'"•='■"''7 ' and, as cultivated 

 Ihe trouble of sowing. | ""V^ ^le "> numberless instances considerably lessen- 



II is said to be a monopolizer of Ihe soil, and'*'' ^^ '^* S:™wth of these weeds, their destruction 

 lo starve out Us neighbors, Uc. and vet matnire, ' '''""''' """^ ^^ neglected, otherwise the value of the 

 compost, and in short any Ihing thai" will enable : Pi«''«'^e of the soil will be proportionably lessened "— 



olher grass,., to grow, v\ il sti „y it. D„es : L'r l^caae in his New England Farmer, article "weeds" 



lis look l.kc monopolizing? It is well known ^-numerates Chrysanthemum as one of the "most trou- 

 l .at giMss crops, except on wet land, will de- blesome" of " useless pUants." Dr Bi^elow in his lio 



weedasa signa for to Z. n v , 7 '"H ""'">» <'''^y-»'h--"n says " I his plant which h..s 

 u ho choose t!^ lot 1 eir a'il fie f.'e? U.e '7 i """ '" '" "° '""" ""'" ''■"'^'''^ " -ceeding.y „e 



have failed, cannot oimuit \uf:\-!:":n^z:::T"'-':r '" ""' ''^'^'"'"' =""' —' 



comes lo occuoy Ihe s„ii i|,.,l ivool.l ,„l . • '^"''*- " '^ «"?'■' q"ote many other writers, who do- 

 be Idle. She,',f als.^ a:' ^IS l^ kll . : ^ """"" '''' " "-: ^ ""'^ ""^ "' - « '-"'^— 



hnt I uould ask whelber Ihev do this will! ihel; ''" t"™.'-™' «"<'• ^^ « '-ve also conversed with 

 looks or their leefh? undoubtedly bv lb,- Inter- I "'''"'''^ uitell.gent practical larmers of this vicinity, 

 '"•■ " ' - - ■ . . . • '' wbo lell us that they consider white weed not only in 



for (hough cnllle are not very fond of ih.s i.lmit ' ," 



will or power to enrich the said soil, he may consult 

 his own interest by raising white weed which is better 

 than nothing. But the same may be said of many, and 

 we believe most other weeds. If mowed when in i 

 succulent state and properly dried, cattle will eat them. 

 But we believe the cultivator of white weed both for 

 his own benefit, and that of his neighbors, ought never 

 to permit it to ripen its seeds lest he should bestow 

 some of its blessings on his neighbors, who may prefer 

 timothy, clover, or red top ; the ripe seed, will be no 

 acquisition to his manure heap ; and if the white weed 

 sfands till its seeds aie ripe it is worth very little for fod- 

 der. 



Notse" intimates that white weed ought not to be 

 esteemed " a monopolizer of the soil" and be said to 

 [ " starve out its neighbors" because " manure, compost, 

 iic. will destroy it." But surely the term " monopoli- 

 zer" does not imply that it is indestructible. Nobody 

 ever thought it could not be destroyed ; and the object 

 of the enquiries of the " Middlesfx Farmer"was to as- 

 certain the best modes of elfecting its destruction.— 

 Supposing we should say that shrub oaks and pitch 

 pmes were monopolizers of certain lands commonly 

 called shrub oak and pitch pine plains. Would this 

 be thought tantamount to asserting that axes, fire, &c. 

 would not destroy those monopolizers f 



" Notffi" intimates that some 30 or 40 years since, a 

 prejudice against White Weed, similar to that existing 

 in Massachusetts, prevailed in Maine. Now, however" 

 Ihe same plant has •' warm friends," who are sons of 

 its inveterate enemies. 1 his is information of some 

 importance, and may serve to console some of our far- 

 mers who cannot or will not exjiel While Weed from 

 thtir grounds. It is not, however, a secret to Massa- 

 chusetts farmers, that this plant has its uses. IJr Deane 

 in his New Kiigiaud Farmer, published about 30 years 

 ago, speaking of this plant, observed—" When it is in 

 its green state neither neat cattle nor horses will eat it. 

 But if it is cut while in blossom, and well dried for hay 

 Ihe cattle will eat it freely in winltr and live well on 

 it. The crop however is always ihin and light. If it 

 IS mowed lale or not well cured and preserved, the 

 hay will bt of very little value." 



" ,Not.-e" also asserts in substance, that the white 

 weed takes the place of more valuable grass crops, 

 which have declined or run out ; and appears to be 



act a weed, but the very worst weed that ever pla^u- favourably impressed towards it, because it comes in if 



