WEE 



plougiied, it be forked up carefully in 

 dry weather, and the tiids of couch, 

 with ilieir roots, be ex|)oscd to the 

 hot sun, they may be rakcil ofl" and 

 burned ; but as these roots contain 

 iTiuch nutritive saccliarine matter, it 

 is often worth while to wash them, 

 if the adhering earth cannot be beat 

 out, and to give them to horses and 

 cattle to eat, taking care that the 

 litter and dung made at that time be 

 reserved to marmre grass land, and 

 not arable fields. Heaps of couch 

 may be rotted by pouring urine or 

 thedrainings of dunghills over them; 

 and if they are frequently turned, will 

 produce a rich compost. Any incon- 

 venience from the extreme vitality 

 of the roots is obviated by using this 

 compost, mixed with eartli, as a top- 

 dressing for pastures. 



" Another weed with perennial 

 and very vivacious roots is the Ar- 

 rhenalheruin ancnaceu m , common oat- 

 like grass. The root is l)ulbous, and 

 the bulbs, separated, grow again. It 

 is difficult to eradicate, but the means 

 employed to get rid of the couch 

 grass will succeed with this and most 

 other perennial roots. These troub- 

 lesome weeds may have been wisely 

 dispersed through the soil by Provi- 

 dence, to induce the cultivator to 

 give his land a more perfect tillage 

 than he might have done otherwise. 

 The expense of forking, and what 

 is usually called couching, is gener- 

 ally amply repaid by the finer tilth it 

 gives to the land, and the crops are 

 more certain and abundant in conse- 

 quence. 



" There are many other weeds, 

 both in arable and pasture land, which 

 indicate slovenly culture, and which 

 disappear on careful cultivation ; 

 such as briars, furze, broom, and 

 rushes, the last being a well-known 

 sign of superabundant moisture, and 

 only to be destroyed by under-drain- 

 ing. The whole process of cultiva- 

 tion is a continual struggle between 

 the farmer and the weeds natural to 

 the soil he cultivates. The sooner 

 he subdues them entirely, the less 

 will be his subsequent trouble ; and 

 the perfection of agriculture is to 

 844 



WEI 



produce crops of such vegetables as 

 are useful and profitable, and are 

 soiled to the soil which is cultivated, 

 while ail others are excluded which 

 might interfere with the crops to be 

 raised. That much remains yet to 

 he done in this respect on farms 

 which are looked upon as models of 

 cultivation will be acknowledged on 

 simple inspection. The almost uni- 

 versal adoption of the system of drill- 

 ing and hoeing the crops tends great- 

 ly to the destruction of useless plants 

 on arable land ; mucli yet may be 

 done by way of improving the prod- 

 uce of meadows and pastures by the 

 destruction of all noxious and useless 

 plants, and the introduction of those 

 wiiich are nutritious and improve the 

 herbage, whether depastured or made 

 into hay ; and nothing is so likely to 

 do so as a good system of alternate 

 husbandry, where the best grasses 

 are cultivated as carefully as the 

 plants which are immediately appli- 

 ed to the food of man." 



WEEVILS. The true weevils are 

 coleopterans of the family Rlnjncho- 

 phorjda, distinguished by the head 

 being prolonged into a snout, and 

 sometimes into a narrow tube. The 

 grain weevils will be found figured in 

 the article on Insects. The weevils 

 are all destructive to grain and trees, 

 the Hylohius pales, picivorous, &c., be- 

 ing particularly injurious to pine- 

 trees. They are, however, the food 

 of numerous woodpeckers, which 

 keep down their numbers. The pine 

 weevils appear in the fall, from Au- 

 gust to October. 



WEIGH. A common term for a 

 certain quantity of produce, which is, 

 however, indeterminate. 



WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

 " System of Lineal Measures. — The 

 unit of lineal measure is the yard, all 

 other denominations being either mul- 

 tiples or aliquot parts of the yard. 

 The yard is divided into 3 feet, and 

 the foot subdivided into 12 inches. 

 The multiples of the yard are the pole 

 or perch, the furlong, and the mile ; 

 5^ yards being a pole, 10 poles a fur- 

 long, and 8 furlongs a mile. But the 

 pole and furlong arc now scarcely 



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