THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



293 



3. Coltsfoot grows chiefly in moist clays, and 

 especially in marly soils, lis broad leaves over- 

 epreadiiij^ tlie surlace, it is very liurtlui uiu;ru ii 

 prevails. Tillage i\nd draining, and improving 

 the lexmre and leriiliiy ol' the soil, are ihe'means 

 to be adopted lor rooliiig it ou!. 



4. The daisy, though every where loved and 

 admired as the harbinger ol summer, and the 

 ornament ol" our helds, is, in the judgment of the 

 larmer, a weed. Where it prevails too greatly, 

 the land requires to be renovated by a course ol' 

 good tillage, and by lime. 



5. The great white ox-eyes, sometimes also 

 called the great white daisy or moon-flower, olien 

 abounds in pastures, and is only lo be extirpated 

 by lillaire. 



C. Tiiistles form a class of weeds very ibrmida- 

 bleio the agriculturist, from the ease wiih which 

 liiey are disseminated by means ol their downy 

 seeds, and the ditHculty of eradicating them. Some 

 of them have dee|) vivacious roots, and all of them, 

 on account of their vigorous growth and then- 

 strong spreading leaves, are injurious amongst the 

 cultivated plants. 



The must common of the thistle kind is the 

 corn or way-thistle. This plant has strong, cieep- 

 ing, and vivacious roots, ihe habit ol which is lo 

 strike down to a great depih in the ground, ll 

 any pans of these roots are left in the soil, they 

 will again give birth to numerous jilants. 



Tlie means of extirpating the way-thistle from 

 land IS by a continued tillage and deep ploughing. 

 Even an efficient year's summer lallow will nui 

 always ert'ect this ; when land has been thoroughly 

 overrun by the plants, they will spring up in future 

 years, and require successive years' tillage tho 

 roughly to exterminate them. The lands of va- 

 rious parts ol this country used to be greatly 

 more covered with thistles ihan they now are. In 

 some parts of Scotland they were once so abun- 

 dant that they used to be cut regularly lor five or 

 six weeks in summer to supply food lor the wretch- 

 ed cattle of the day. In well cultivated districts 

 they have been got under, though, so great is 

 their tenacity of lile and power of propagating, 

 that they demand constant attention on the best 

 cultivated liirms, and under negligent manage- 

 ment never fail to take possession of the soil. New 

 lands brought into culiivalion are olien entirely 

 covered wnh this species, and a course of iillac,'e 

 is necessary belbre it can be subdued. In the. 

 ordinary management of a farm, thisiles will some- 

 times spring up in great abundance with the first 

 crop of oats after grass. In this case, they musi 

 be weeded early in summer, by being cut over 

 near the surliice, which is conveniently done by 

 the weed- hook. The sole effect of this, however, 

 is to retard the growth of the plant and prevent it 

 from running to seed, or contending lor mastery 

 with the growing corn. 



Thisiles sometimes spring up in great plenty in 

 old pasture fields. In this case, ihey should be 

 cut close to the ground at least once a year, so as 

 to prevent their smoihering the pasture plants and 

 rurioing to seed. But it is only when the land is 

 broken up lor tillage that effectual means can be 

 used lor destroying them. Instruments, indeed, 

 have been devised for pulling up thistles from the 

 ground, but the roots of the plant are too easily 

 broken, and the smallest portion left in the soil will 

 spring again. 



The thistle not only grows from its creeping, 

 vivacious roots, but is widely dissennnaied by iis 

 light downy seeds. Thisiles ihereluie uuglii to 

 be cut down belore being permuted to jjeriect 

 their seeds ; and they should never be sullered 

 to grow m waste places and hedges, whence their 

 light seeds may be carried to poison the ne'gh- 

 boimg fields. Further, when they liave been 

 cut down at an advanced stage, they should 

 not be left on the ground, for like many coin- 

 posiUB they will mature their seeds though sepa- 

 raied Irom the ground. 



7. Black knappweed is one of a class of this- 

 tle-like plants. It IS termed horse-knot, and re- 

 ceives many other local names. It is a hurtful 

 weed in pastures where it prevails, increasing 

 much by the roots, and being extirpated witti 

 difficulty. 



8. The corn sow-thistle is a frequent plant in 

 corn-fields, distinguished by iis tail ttems and 

 firge yellow flowers ; but it is not usually a very 

 hurtful weed. 



9. The white dead-netile is occasionally com- 

 mon in corn-fields. Having a strong, creeping 

 perennial root, it should be carelully extirpated. 

 This is one of the mint tribe of plants belore 

 relerred to. 



10. The dock genus comprehends a variety 

 of species known lo the fiirmer as weeds. These 

 plants produce a large quaniiiy of seeds, which 

 they readily mature. The seeds are heavy, and 

 though diflused by the smaller birds, to which 

 lliey serve as lood, they are not so readily dis- 

 seminated by the winds as those of the thisile 

 kind. They, however, vegetate freely whea 

 they fall on the ground, and produce plania 

 which, when once allowed lo extend their roots 

 in ihe soil, it becomes difficult to exiern>inate. 

 The roots are vivacious, and if cut into pieces 

 the separate pans will send forth shoots. It is 

 more easy however to raise up the roots of docks 

 than of thistles by means of instruments, which 

 receive the lower part of the stem in a cleft, 

 and being used as a lever, wrench the plant 

 from the ground. But the only effectual meihod 

 of extirpating docks, as of most other weeds, ia 

 by summer lallow or cleaning crops. The seeds 

 of docks are olien conveyed lo the farm mixed 

 with grass seeds. When this lakes place, the 

 docks , will frequently establish themselves with 

 the grasses and grow vigorously the second 

 year. They should be ihen pulled up by the 

 hand, so as to prevent their running lo seed and 

 further overspreading the ground. The species 

 of docks are very numerous. The most comtnon 

 is the broad-leaved dock, which is lound in every 

 couniry of Europe. In this country it generally 

 indicates a good soil. 



11. Amphibious persicaria is of the same natu- 

 ral li^imily as the clocks. On damp deep soil it ia 

 sometimes very abundant, overspreading the sur- 

 face when the land has been lelt in grass. The 

 prevalence of ihis plant generally indicates the 

 need of draining. 



12. The great nettle is frequent in waste place?, 

 under walls and in hedge banks. This species 

 grows over all Europe, and is found from Barbary 

 to Siberia and Japan. In this couniry it gene- 

 rally indicates a good soil. When it lakes root 

 in pastures, it is very difficult to extirpate it. It 

 tbrms patches on which other, plants will not 



