ESSAY ON DESTROYING WEEDS. 103 



free from blackberry vine, and other bushes, weeds, &c., is not at- 

 tentively enough considered by the farmers of this county. Asa T. 

 Newhall, Esq. remarks, "that as many sheep as horned cattle may 

 be kept in the same pastures, and both will thrive equally as well as 

 they would were one kind of stock only kept therein, and the in- 

 crease of briars and other bushes at the same time prevented. 

 Pastures in which Lamb-kill (Kalmia) grows, ought perhaps to be 

 excepted. Sheep also will destroy all seedling pines and other young 

 forest trees, and of course whereever it is desirable to convert pas- 

 ture lands into woodlands they should not be kept therein. But 

 "wherever clean unshaded grazing lands are coveted, keep sheep in 

 the same pastures with horses and horned cattle. But fences are 

 not generally sufficient for this purpose, it may be said. Yankees 

 are seldom at loss for expedients. Might not the sheep be so cos- 

 seted with cows that they would not leave them? And in many 

 cases improving the fences so as to make them sheep-proof would be 

 good husbandry. And if the worst method must be resorted to, fet- 

 ter them rather than not keep them at all. 



Huckleberry bushes, Lamb Kill, (Kalmia Angustifolia) Bay-ber- 

 ry, and other small shrubs, which so frequently get possession of the 

 most fertile, but rocky portions of Pasture lands, cannot be economi- 

 cally destroyed outright unless they also can be smothered. To kill 

 these bushes, and at the same time make these rocky places, pro- 

 ductive and valuable, the best method is to plant them thickly with 

 trees. The locust, willow, and white birch, and larch, would in a few 

 years, amply compensate the owner for the rent of the land, and 

 outlay upon it by its increased value. The locust, and birch 

 are best on dry lands — the willow and larch for springy and low ra- 

 vines. Other forest trees, such as the red maple, swamp, white oak, 

 and black birch, would do well, mixed with trees of a more rapid 

 growth and earlier maturity. Whenever the trees become sufficient- 

 ly large, and dense, to exclude the direct rays of the sun, the under 

 brush will die out. 



Some patches of most valuable soil in this County, are 

 suffered to remain overrun with the Sweet Flag (Acouis Calamus.) 

 This plant, although the root is of some value as a medicine, is usu- 

 ally worthless to the farmer. It is therefore, an object of some im- 

 portance, to destroy it. This will be most easily accomplished, by 

 mowing it in the month of July, leaving the usually abundant crop 



