850 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK ix. 



weight, more valuable than the top, and every inch of the former 

 counts both in weight and in quality. The clearing of stones from 

 the field is therefore worth scrupulous attention, and it should be 

 done before the grass makes a start in early spring. The turf must 

 also be well harrowed and firmly rolled down." 



IV. WEEDS. Under this denomination are included all those 

 plants which flourish spontaneously, to the detriment of the plants that 

 rightly constitute the crop, and to the consequent loss of the farmer. 

 As they thrive without care, and even in spite of the efforts made to 

 suppress them, it is evident that they are of a more hardy and vigorous 

 nature than the plants which require the fostering hand of man, and 

 will, therefore, always be apt to obtain the superiority, and to appro- 

 priate to themselves every kind of plant food. The yield of the crops 

 will be diminished in proportion to the prevalence of weeds ; and 

 hence it is of the utmost importance to prevent, as far as possible, the 

 growth of every kind of vegetation except that which is the direct 

 object of cultivation. 



Weeds are annual, biennial, or perennial. The first-named spring up 

 from seed, and produce their flowers, fruit, and seed, and die all in the 

 same year. Biennials complete their vegetative growth during the 

 first year, and develop flower, fruit, and seed in the second year. 

 Both annuals and biennials are dependent, therefore, upon seed for 

 their perpetuation. Perennial weeds are such as continue several 

 years, being not only propagated by their seeds, but also by their roots, 

 which lie in the ground during the winter, and put forth new shoots in 

 the spring. It is from perennial weeds that grass land is most liable 

 to suffer. 



Some seeds germinate as soon as they obtain moisture, and although 

 they may not be in immediate contact with the earth, thrust down 

 their roots to its surface. Many seeds, even those of the most 

 diminutive size, may remain dormant for a long series of years, and 

 then vegetate as soon as any accident has placed them in a favourable 

 situation. To this vitality of seeds may be attributed the spontaneous 

 appearance of weeds in abundance upon land supposed to be free from 

 them ; deeper ploughing may have brought to the surface seeds which, 

 though they have long remained dormant, are not dead. 



Seeds are often furnished with some appendage, by means of which 

 they are conveyed from the place of their origin, and disseminated 

 over the fields. Thus the dock seeds are contained in wing-like cover- 

 ings by which they are sometimes carried, in a high wind, to a very 

 considerable distance ; other seeds are surrounded by a light glume or 

 husk, like a mantle ; while the buoyant plumes of the sow-thistle, bur- 

 thistle, coltsfoot, and similar compositaceous weeds float them through 

 the atmosphere to remote places. 



On account of the different characters of weeds, it is obvious that 

 different means of extirpation are required. Annual and biennial 

 plants may be destroyed by pulling them up by the roots, or by 

 dividing the stem beneath the lowest or first-formed leaves, or 



