WEEDS. 



WEEDS. 



Tables showing the mean temperature in 

 most sections of the United Slates, and also at 

 many noted places in Europe and Asia, will 

 be found under the heads of ATMOSPHERE and 



Cl.l M \TK. 



WEEDS. A weed has been aptly defined 

 "a plant out of place." The clearing of all 

 kinds of crops, and keeping them free from 

 is an essential part of cultivation : if 

 this he omitted, neglected, or but partially per- 

 foriiM-il, a portion of the crop will be lost, in pro- 

 portion to the prevalence of such weeds, from 

 defective preparation or partial extirpation. 

 Tin- nourishment drawn from the ground by the 

 roots of all vegetables being somewhat simi- 

 lar, where that nourishment is suffered to be 

 drawn by weeds, it is lost to the intended crop, 

 which will therefore be reduced in produce in 

 proportion as it has been deprived of nutri- 

 ment from the soil, and prevented from occu- 

 pying its whole extent of ground. The same 

 observation will apply to pastures, to hedges, 

 and plantations, and to all parts of the earth's 

 surface reclaimed, occupied, and cultivated for 

 the use of man; for therein the growth of 

 noxious or useless plants will be injurious to 

 the success of the useful ones, and in propor- 

 tion as the former abound, the latter must prove 

 defective 



Th^ clearing of crops from weeds must be 

 effected in two ways: 1. In the preparation; 

 and, 2. During the growth of the crop. In the 

 preparation, attention must be given to dis- 

 tinguish root weeds from seedlings, as their 

 destruction must be effected upon different 

 principles. In the spring of the year particu- 

 larly, attention should be paid to hoeing and 

 weeding. 



And old Tusser's advice may be followed 

 wilh advantage : 



"In May get a weed-hook, a crotch, and a glove, 

 Anil weed out such weeds as the corn doih not love ; 

 For weeding of winter corn, now it is best, 

 But June is the better for weeding the rest. 



The May-weed doth burn, and the thistle doth fret, 

 The fitches pull downward both rye and the wheat, 

 The brake and the cockle be noisome too much, 

 Yet like unto boodle no weed there is such. 



Slack never thy weeding, for dearth nor for cheap, 

 The corn shall reward it, ere ever ye reap ; 

 And 'specially where ye do trust for to seed, 

 Let that he well used, the better to speed." 



The plants we term weeds, considered as 

 respecting mankind, are not totally useless ; 

 many of them have valuable medical quali- 

 ties, and some of them may be applied to use- 

 ful purposes, so as to pay something towards 

 the expense of clearing them from the ground. 

 Thus, sow-thistles (Sonrhus) afford food for 

 rabbits or hogs ; the hog-M^eed, or cow-parsnip 

 (Heracleum sphondylium), is good for either 

 swine or cattle; horses and asses are fond of 

 young thistles when partially dried, and the 

 seed may be prevented from spreading by 

 gathering the down, which makes good pillows ; 

 however, there is some danger of trusting them. 

 to this stage of growth, as a high wind would, 

 and frequently does, disperse them over a 

 whole country. Charlock, or wild radish, 

 when drawn, may be given to cows, which are 

 very fond of it, particularly of the smooth kind; 

 and, in the Oxford Report, it is stated that it can 

 be converted into good hay. Nettles, fern, and 

 the more bulky hedge-weeds, are, in Stafford- 

 shire, collected annually about midsummer 

 and burned; their ashes being afterwards 

 formed into balls, which are of considerable 

 value, being used in composing a ley for scour 

 ing arid cleaning linen and other clothes. 



It is said that pigeons are of use in picking 

 up the seeds of many weeds that would other- 

 wise vegetate : and I have no doubt but that a 

 prodigious quantity of the seeds of weeds are 

 eaten by small birds, particularly of most of 

 the snake-weeds (Polygonums), of the spurry 

 (Spergula), and, in severe weather, of the dif- 

 ferent sorts of charlock (Sinapis, Brassica, and 

 Ruphanus), and of many other kinds. It has 

 been observed that bees have not thriven so 

 well in England since the extirpation of weeds 

 has been more attended to. In China* and Ja- 

 pan, it is said, not a weed is to be seen, and 

 that they only make use of night-soil as a ma- 

 nure, partly with a view of preventing any 

 rise of weeds. 



Weeds, like all other vegetables, may be 

 distinguished into annuals, biennials, and pe- 

 rennials, according to their term of duration. 



Annuals are those which continue only one 

 year, the plants dying after perfecting thei" 

 seeds : these are generally very prolific in seed. 

 Biennials are those which continue two years, 

 and die after perfecting their seed : these also 

 produce an abundance of seed. Perennials 

 are those which continue many years: some 

 of these perfect their seeds every year, and 

 others, being very tenacious of growth by their 

 j roots, and having the faculty of reproducing 

 themselves in this way, are less prolific in 

 seeds ; but many of them increase both by 

 seeds and roots. 



The weeds of agriculture are very numerous 

 but by far the greater part are underlings, ar.d 



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