1972 



WATSONIA 



3. Meriana, Mill. This seems to be the dominant 

 species of the genus anil hence the most variable and 

 the one most interesting to the plant-breeder. In its 

 -widest sense it includes W. iridifolia, but for horti- 

 cultural purposes it will be convenient to consider the 

 latter a distinct species. W. Meriana is best restricted 

 to the commonest type at the Cape, which is a rose-fld. 

 species 3-4 ft. high, the stem usually branched, Ivs. 

 %-% in. wide and the spikes 12-20-fld. This is the 

 plant figured in B.M. 418 as Antholyza Meriana. Gn. 

 17:230 is more typical in color. The white-fld. form, 

 which is rarer in nature, is treated under W. iridifolia. 

 Baker says that there are scarlet-fld. forms of this spe- 

 cies, but he gives them no name, and it is probable that 

 all such should be referred to W. angusta. 



4. iridifolia, Ker. This is treated by Baker as a va- 

 riety of W. Meriana characterized by broader Ivs. than 

 the type: fls. closer and more numerous, white or pink- 

 ish. For horticultural purposes it will be convenient to 

 treat it as a distinct species and restrict the name to 

 the pink or rose-colored type. 



Var. O'Brleni, N. E. Br. ( W. alba, Hort. W. O'Brleni, 

 Mast. W.iridifdlia,v&r. alba,Vfm. Robinson. W.Arder- 

 yiei, Hort. W. Meriana, var. alba, Hort.). WHITE 

 WATSONIA. A variety with pure white fls. discussed 

 ahov. Gn. 17:230; 43, p. 229; 51, p. 284. J.H. III. 

 :2J:219. G.C. III. 11:305; 19:143. A.G. 20:573. 



5. densifldra, Baker. This very distinct and hand- 

 rsome rose-colored species more nearly resembles a 

 gladiolus than any other by reason of the density and reg- 

 ularity of itspyramidal inflorescence. Stems unbranched, 



'.2-3 ft. high: spikes a foot long: fls. bright rosy red. 

 B.M. 6400. There is a choice variety with pure white 

 ifls. Var. alba, Hort., was introduced as early as 1891. 



6. eoccinea, Herb. This showy scarlet-fld. species 

 xiiffers from W. Meriana in its stem being shorter and 

 unbranched, the spikes fewer-fld. and the styles a trifle 

 longer. Stem 1 ft. high: spikes 4-6-fld. B.M. 1194 ( W. 

 Meriana variety). 



7. humilis, Mill. This species has rose-red fls. ap- 

 parently the same size and color as W. densiflora but 

 only 4-6 in a spike and the stem only a foot or so high. 

 B.M. 631. A variegated form figured in B.M. 1193 as 



W. roseo-alba has a spike of 8 flesh-colored fls. with 

 broad bands and splashes of scarlet. 



8. rosea, Ker. Robust rose-colored species, growing 

 4-6 ft. high and the fls., though fewer than those of W. 

 densiflora, are perhaps capable of greater size. Spikes 

 about 15-fld. B.M. 1072. 



W. argiita, Hort. John Saul, 1893, is presumably a catalogue 

 error, as no such name appears in Baker's latest monograph. 



W. M. 

 WATTLE. See Acacia. 



WAX BEKEY. Symphoricarpus. W. Flower. See 

 Hoya. W. Palm. Consult Diplotnemium. W. Plant. 

 Hoya carnosa. Waxwork. Celastrus scandens. 



WAYFARING TREE. Viburnum Lantana. 

 WEATHER PLANT. See Abrus. 



WEEDS. It would have been a sorry thing for agri- 

 culture if there had been no weeds. They have made 

 us stir the soil, and stirring the soil is the foundation 

 of good farming. Even after we have learned that 

 crops are benefited by the stirring of the land, we are 

 likely to forget the lesson or to be neglectful of it un- 

 less the weeds constantly remind us of it. Necessity is 

 always the best schoolmaster; and of these necessities 

 weeds are amongst the chief. 



A weed is a plant that is not wanted. There are, 

 therefore, no species of weeds, for a plant that is a 

 weed in one place may not be in another. There are, 

 of course, species that are habitual weeds; but in their 

 wild state, where they do not intrude on cultivated 

 areas, they can scarcely be called weeds. The common 

 pigweed and the purslane are sometimes vegetables, in 

 which case potato plants would be weeds if thev grew 

 .among them. 



The one way to destroy weeds is to practice good 



WESTRINGIA 



farming. Judicious tillage should always keep weeds 

 down in cultivated lands. In idle lands weeds are likely 

 to be a serious nuisance. In sod lands they are also 

 likely to take the place of grass when for any reason the 

 grass begins to fail. The remedy for weeds in grass 

 lands, therefore, is to secure more grass. In order to 

 do so, it may be necessary to plow the land and reseed. 

 In some cases, however, it is only necessary to give the 

 land a light surface tillage, to add clean and quickly 

 available fertilizers and to sow more grass seed. This 

 is the fundamental remedy for weeds on lawns. If such 

 weeds are perennial, as dandelion and plantain, it is 

 advisable to pull them out; but in order to keep them 

 out, a stiffer sod should be secured. The annual weeds 

 that come in the lawn the first year are usually de- 

 stroyed by frequent use of the lawn mower. 



Foul lands may usually be cleared of weeds by a 

 short and sharp system of rotation of crops, combined 

 with good tillage in some of the crops of the series. 

 When the land for any reason is fallow, as when it is 

 waiting for a crop, surf ace tillage with harrows or 

 cultivators will serve to keep down the weeds and to 

 make the land clean for the coming crop. Often lands 

 that are perfectly clean in spring and early summer 

 become foul in the fall after the crops are removed. 

 Cleaning the land late in the season, therefore, may be 

 one of the most efficient means of ridding the land of 

 weeds. Coarse and rough stable manure, which is not 

 well rotted, may also be a conveyer of weed seed. The 

 seeds of weeds are sometimes carried in the seed with 

 which the land is sown, particularly in grass and grain 

 seeds. 



It does not follow that weeds are always an evil, even 

 when they are abundant. In the fall a good covering of 

 weeds may serve as an efficient cover-crop for the 

 orchard. They are likely to entail some extra care the 

 next year in order to prevent them from gaining a 

 mastery, but this extra care benefits the orchard at the 

 same time. It is, of course, far better to sow the cover- 

 crop oneself, for then the orchardist secures what he 

 wants and of the proper quantity and at the right sea- 

 son; but a winter cover of weeds is usually better than 

 bare earth. 



From the above remarks it will be seen that weeds 

 are scarcely to be regarded as fundamental difficulties 

 in farming, but rather as incidents. In the most inten- 

 sive and careful farming the weeds bother the least. 

 There should be a careful oversight of all waste areas, 

 as roadsides and vacant lots. Experience has shown 

 that the greatest difficulty arises on commons and waste 

 land, not on farms. 



Weeds are often troublesome in walks, particularly in 

 those made of gravel. If the walk were excavated two 

 feet deep and filled with stones, rubble or coal fishes, 

 weeds cannot secure a foothold. It is particularly im- 

 portant that gutters be not laid directly on the soil, else 

 they become weedy. There are various preparations 

 that can be applied to walks to kill the weeds, although, 

 of course, they also kill the grass edgings if carelessly 

 applied. Strong brine, applied hot, is one of the best 

 (1 Ib. of salt to 1 gal. of water). There are also prepa- 

 rations of arsenic, vitriol, lime and sulfur. 



L. H. B. 

 WEEPING TREES. Consult Trees. 



WEIGELA. Referred to Diervilla. 



WEST INDIA RATTLE BOX. Crotalaria retusa. 



WESTERN CENTAURY. Hesperocliirnn. 



WESTRlNGIA (J. C. Westring, physician and au- 

 thor). Labiatce. An Australian genus of 11 species of 

 shrubs with entire whorled leaves and solitary, 2-lipped, 

 white or purple-spotted flowers in the leaf-axils or rarely 

 in terminal heads. Calyx bell-shaped, 5-toothed; corolla 

 with a short tube and dilated throat: the upper lip flat 

 and broadly 2-lobed, the lower 3-lobed: fertile stamens 

 2- staminodia 2, short. 



rosmarinifdrmis, Sm. VICTORIAN ROSEMARY. A bushy 

 shrub with the branches and under side of the leaves 

 silvery white with appressed hairs : Ivs. in whorls of 4, 



