268 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Massachusetts Weeds. 



BY G. E. STONE, PH.D., PROFESSOR OP BOTANY AT MASSACHUSETTS 

 AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



Emerson defines a weed as a plant whose virtues have not 

 been discovered. The general conception of weeds is that 

 they are useless plants, and this conception would include 

 all of our road-side growths, such as goldenrods, etc. To 

 the farmer, however, a weed is not only useless but a troub- 

 lesome plant. Apropos of Emerson's conception of a weed, 

 it may be stated that there are apparently useless plants 

 whose virtues have been discovered, or, in other words, some 

 use has been made of them. The barn-yard grass, which is a 

 weed throughout Europe and America, has been cultivated 

 in Japan and is now a very important forage plant. 



We can divide all of our plants into three groups, — the 

 indigenous, or native species, the naturalized, or those which 

 have become established ; and the adventive, or those which 

 have made their appearance once or twice but which have 

 not become established. The latter two groups, the natural- 

 ized and the adventive, include, of course, the introduced 

 species which grow spontaneously. It must be understood, 

 however, that they do not include all cultivated species. 

 The naturalized species make themselves at home in our 

 soil, and they grow 3^ear after year with more or less regu- 

 larity in their appearance. 



The adventive plants are only recent arrivals, and may be 

 considered as candidates for admission. Some of them make 

 their appearance sparingly year after year, without making 

 much headway, while others simply live one year and per- 

 haps are not seen again, or only occasionally from time to 

 time. The conditions which largely control the appearance 

 of the new plants are dependent upon the commercial rela- 



