1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



239 



edge, so long a portion of mankind will feel the 

 curse of hunger, which breaks through stone 

 walls. 



In the New England monthly Farmer for 

 January, ]8u9, I have read a communication from 

 the pen of Mr. Wilson Fhigg. which advances, 1 

 think, some erronious ideas in regard to the ef- 

 fect which the steam-plow will have on the agri- 

 cultural interests of the country ; and the crea- 

 tion thereliv of "great mammoth agricidtural as- 

 sociations," which will absorb the whole of the 

 faming interests, farmers and all ! Would to God 

 that this may be the result ; for then we might 

 have hope for the permanent regeneration of 

 mankind, when all the farmers are formed into 

 one great mammoth agricultural association. 

 Then all will be rewarded according to their 

 works — all will be free. No more slaves, not 

 even to those great machines, Br. Flagg to thi 

 contrary, notwithstanding — for the faimers are 

 now slaves to the small implements. But I hope 

 the great machines will make them free. "God 

 speed the plow!" even the great Steam Plow! 



Ripton, Tt., Feb., 18<39. Samuel Damon. 



AMEBICATsT WEEDS AND USEPUL 

 PLANTS. 



That person who learns and retains the names 

 of the machinery which he drives, or the tools 

 o-r implements which he uses in his business, will 

 be able to converse more intelligently about it, 

 will naturally investigate its nature and scope, 

 and will be quite likely to make it more profita- 

 ble, than one possibly can who is indifferent in 

 regard to it. 



It is so with the farmer. He who has studied 

 the names of cattle, who can select an Ayrshire, 

 Alderney, Short Horn or Devon, at sight, from 

 a promiscuous herd, and tell why each bears that 

 special name, will usually be found to have gone 

 beyond that point of inquiry, and has also learned 

 the comparative merits of each, so that when he 

 wants an animal he knows just where to select, 

 either for the dairy, the shambles or the yoke. 

 The knowledge of names leads to the acquisition 

 of other knowledge which becomes actual capi- 

 tal to the farmer in his business ; it makes up a 

 sound judgment to guide him in his purchases 

 and sales, and its exercise protects him against 

 the imposition of unprincipled men. 



With regard to machinery, stock, and the im- 

 plements of the farm, we have already valuable 

 helps. There are several works on cattle, and 

 the catalogues of the agricultural warehouses 

 give illustrations and descriptions of tools and 

 implements, — while there are more scientific 

 works that describe the more complicated ma- 

 chinery, such as wind, horse and steam power. 



What we have said above is intended to illus- 

 trate and enforce what we have to say to the 

 farmer in regard to his knowledge of the names 

 of the plants which he cultivates, and of those 

 which he wishes to destroy. He certainly will 



derive both satisfac'ion and profit from a better 

 acquaintance with their names ; and this will lead 

 — uS in the case of the cattle — to a better under- 

 standing of tii-ir structure, habits and growth, 

 and consequently to larger profits, because ha 

 will better know how to manage them. 



Now we have a work before us, and one that 

 we have long desired to see, upon the American 

 Weeds and Useful Plants, being an illustration 

 of Agricultural Botany, and enumerating and de- 

 scribing the useful plants and weeds, which merit 

 the notice, or require the attention of American 

 agriculturists. 



As as illustration of the practical character of 

 the work whose title stands at the head of this 

 article, we will quote what it says of one of the 

 plants common all over New England, and de- 

 nounced every year as an intruder, fit only to be 

 steeped in vinegar and applied to the face to cure 

 a fit of ague or the mumps ! It is the common 

 mullein. We will give the author's whole ac- 

 count of it, so that the botanist shall not feel 

 slighted, and that the common reader may see 

 that even the despised Mullein has extracted 

 from the scientific a great many queer and hard 

 names. Thus — 



VERBAS'CDM, L. Mdllein. 



[Quasi Barbascum ; Latin Barha, from its bearded or woolly- 

 habit.] 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla with a very short 

 tube ; limb sub-rotate, o-lobed — the lobes nearly 

 equal or the front one larger. Stamens 5, une- 

 qual, inserted on the tube of the corolla, decli- 

 nate, exserted, — the filaments (or some of them) 

 bearded. Capsule ovoid or globose. Seeds nu- 

 merous, rugose-pitted. Tall and usually woolly 

 biennial herbs, with alternate leaves, those of the 

 stem sessile or decurrent. Flowers in dense 

 spikes, or paniculate racemes. 



T'. Thap'sus, L. Stem simple, erect, tomen- 

 tose; leaves oval-lanceolate or oblong, very wool- 

 ly on both sides,— the cauline ones decurrent; 

 flowers in a dense terminal spike ; 2 lower fila- 

 ments smooth. 



TuAPsus Verbascum. 

 Mullein. 



French, Bouillon blanc. 

 raut. Spanish, Gordolobo. 



Whole plant pale grayish-green or hoary tomentose, — the pu- 

 oescence much branched. Stem 3-6 feet high, rather stout, 

 leafy, rarely branching unless injured. Radical lean's 6-12 

 inches long, — the cauline ones smaller. Spike cylindric, 6-12 

 ( r 15 inches long ; Jlatcers bracteate Corolla bright yellow. 

 Stdjitens ULequal, — the two lower ones longer, with smooth fll- 

 amtuts. 



Neglected fields; road-sides, &c. : introduced. Native of Eu- 

 rope. Flowers June-July. Fruits August-September. 



Obs. This plant, although abundant in all the 

 older settlements, is undoubtedly a naturalized 

 foreigner. It is a worthless, unseemly intruder, 

 in our pastures and cultivated grounds. There 

 is no surer evidence of a slovenly, negligent 

 farmer, than to see his fields overrun with Mul- 

 leins. As the plant produces a vast number of 

 seeds, it can only l)e kept in subjection by a care- 

 ful eradication while young — or at least before 

 the fruit is mature. When neglected, the soil 



Mullein. Common 

 German, Das WoUk- 



