Weeds Along Highways 183 



to bring suit for this penalty against any over- 

 seer of highways who neglects this duty, and if 

 he neglect or refuse to bring the action for thirty 

 days the complainant may himself bring the action. 



A like duty of cutting weeds is also placed 

 upon the occupants of lands bounding on high- 

 ways ; this is required once between June fifteenth 

 and July first, and once between August fifteenth 

 and September first of each year. 



To the farmer there are few more important 

 laws upon the statute books affecting agriculture, 

 yet here again the law, notwithstanding its direct- 

 ness, is, in some localities, practically a dead let- 

 ter ; all of which leads to the reflection that we do 

 not, in all cases, so much need new laws as we 

 need the energy to see that the many good laws 

 upon the statute books for our benefit are enforced. 



However, many of the noxious weeds of the 

 roadside are not destroyed by cutting, such as 

 burdocks and the narrow- and broad-leaved yel- 

 low docks. Though the main top may be cut off 

 with the scythe, lateral branches come out and 

 fruit in sufficient abundance to keep the land 

 seeded. These and other biennial and perennial 

 plants should be dug out before the seed-stalk 

 appears. In one little city the burdocks have 

 been cut regularly for the last ten years and 

 yet they are quite as much in evidence as when 

 the task of clearing the back streets was begun. 



