122 ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



late in the fall, and exposmg the roots to frost as much as pos- 

 sible, shading the grounds well by planting corn, or other crops, 

 very thick, and frequent hoeings, so as to deprive the plants of 

 the benefit of light and air, will do much towards destroying 

 this tillage evil. A resolute farmer, who gives no quarter to 

 his enemies, will soon destroy this under-ground creeping foe. 



The Canada thistle, and the slipper, as it is sometimes called, 

 toad-flax, (Antirrhinum Linaria,) must never be allowed to go to 

 seed, or enjoy the light of the sun. Either head them, as soon 

 as they peep out of the ground, or cover them with litter, cheap 

 hay, or other rubbish. Roots cannot live long in summer, un- 

 less their tops find light and air. For perennials, injurious to 

 pasture lands, and grass crops in mowing lands, such as white 

 weed, butter cups, fleabane, (Erigeron Philadelphicum.) Rib- 

 wort, (Plantago Lancecolata,) &c., occasionally tilling the lands, 

 and high manuring, seem to be the best remedies. 



Of the Perennials, approaching shrubs so nearly as to make 

 the definition of shrub applicable to them, yet so unlike shrubs 

 as to be readily mistaken for plants that die down to the ground 

 annually, the most troublesome in the southern part of the 

 county, in and about Salem, Lynn, and Danvers, especially, is 

 the woodwaxen, (Genista Tinctoria.) This plant greatly en- 

 riches the soil, although it allows nothing else to grow thereon ; 

 and, where it gets possession of land that can be ploughed easi- 

 ly, it does not diminish its value. But it is the ruin of rocky 

 pastures. The woodwaxen is a tap-rooted plant, giving out 

 shoots only from its crown. Cut off" this crown with a hoe, or 

 otherwise, an inch or two below the surface of the earth, and 

 the root perishes. It produces abundance of seed, but it does 

 not seem to remain long in the ground, like some other seeds, in 

 a dormant, but living state, capable of vegetating under favora- 

 ble influences. Hence, ground, once thoroughly cleared of it, 

 is very easily kept clear of its occupancy. It may, also, be 

 easily smothered, by covering it, in the summer season, for a 

 few weeks, with hay. or any thing, that will keep from it light 

 and air. About three tons of meadow hay, for example, will, 

 from experiment, made by myself, be sufficient to kill an acre of 

 woodwaxen. The hay may be taken off" after a few weeks, and 



