ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 125 



dense, to exclude the direct rays of the sun, the under brush 

 will die out. 



Some patches of most valuable soil in this county are suf- 

 fered to remain overrun with the sweet flag, (Acouis Calamus.) 

 This plant, although the root is of some value as a medicine, is, 

 usually, worthless to the farmer. It is, therefore, an object of 

 some importance, to destroy it. This will be most easily ac- 

 complished, by mowing it in the month of July, leaving the 

 usually abundant crop on the ground, to which should be added 

 coarse meadow hay, or other suitable article, in sufficient quan- 

 tity to completely smother it, care being taken to cut down 

 every spear that penetrates through the covering. 



The ferns, where they cannot be subdued by the plough, 

 should be treated in the same manner, although, to do this, 

 would be difficult in some cases, on account of the unevenness 

 of the ground on which they grow. The tall fern (Osmunda 

 Cinnamomea,) grows in bunches, the roots of which, compactly 

 woven together, elevate the soil into hills, like the old-fashioned 

 hills made around Indian corn, leaving deep holes and channels 

 between them. To cover this plant, therefore, deep enough to 

 smother it, would require many tons of hay to the acre. Who- 

 ever contemplates the destroying of useless shrubs and other 

 plants on his lands, must study for himself the peculiarities of 

 their natures, location, and all the accompanying circumstances, 

 of the kind of land, its value when redeemed, and the cheapest 

 method of effecting the object. Over and above the pecuniary 

 recompense, always worthy of consideration, there is often a 

 noble pride, an exalted ambition, more worthy the admiration 

 of the world, than that which inspires the conqueror of nations, 

 which prompts the proprietor to wage a war of extermination 

 on these vegetable invaders of his territories. The indulgence 

 of this ambition, wherever pecuniary means will justify it, often 

 as efl'ectually weeds out of the mind, low thoughts, and grovel- 

 ing desires, as out of fields and pastures, the worthless intruders 

 which have been the subject of these remarks. 



