192 



AGRICULTURE 



quality of the yield. Wheat is damaged by cockle, wool is injured 

 by burs, the flavor of milk and butter is affected by wild onions. 



Water hemlock and some other plants 

 are poisonous to man and beast. 



How to destroy Weeds. The good 

 farmer tries to destroy weeds while 

 young, before they injure the crop. 

 They are then easily killed by shal- 

 low hoeing with a hand or horse hoe 

 or a cultivator with small teeth. If 

 weeds are cut off too near the sur- 

 face, their roots live and send forth 

 new growth; if they are cut off too 

 deep down, they are only trans- 

 planted and grow more vigorously. 



Weed Seed Sowing. But how do 

 weeds come 

 in the fields 

 where they 

 are not 

 planted? 



Ah ! that is a matter to which they at- 

 tend. The farmer is fortunate if he gets 

 his field crops sowed as thoroughly as 

 those weeds. In the first place, they 

 usually produce an enormous number of 

 seeds. A single plant will sometimes ma- 

 ture a hundred thousand seeds one season. 

 To spread these abroad, weeds make 

 use of many messengers, wind, water, birds, beasts, yes, and 

 people, too. Every time you pull off one of the hooked burs which 



COCKLEBUR 



BROOM SEDGE 

 Seed carried by wind 



