CHAP, ix, NE1TLES BUTTERCUPS rOPPIES. 857 



SMALL NETTLE (Urtica urens, L., iiat. ord. Urticacese). This plant 

 too often spreads itself from the hedgerows, and from under the walls, 

 which nature seems to have selected for its domicile, to the better and 

 cultivated parts of the farm. It should be carefully eradicated before 

 the seed time. Its presence usually indicates that the soil is rich in 

 humus. 



The STINGING NETTLE (Urtica dioica, L., nat. ord. Urticacese). This 

 plant also is found in all waste places, under walls, and on the banks 

 of hedges. It is exceedingly objectionable, for it is not only difficult 

 to extirpate, but when it has once taken possession of a piece of ground, 

 ever} r other plant dies away. It must be dug up by the roots before it 

 flowers, but loosening the soil favours its growth, and the only sure 

 method of keeping it down is to consolidate the land as much as 

 possible. It springs up with great vigour on land which has previously 

 been occupied by barns or other old buildings. 



CROWFOOT (Ranunculus sp., nat. ord. Ranunculacese). There are 

 various species of this weed, known under the name of " butter-cup," 

 "kingcup," "golden cup," &c. They all possess an acrid or poisonous 

 principle, and are said to be injurious to cattle and to their milk. It 

 is only, however, when they exist in large quantities that this is the 

 case ; where but few of them mingle with the grass, they serve as a 

 condiment, and possibly cause the coarse herbage of pastures to be 

 more easily digested. It is a popular error to suppose that they impart 

 a yellow colour to the butter. Experiments have been made on the 

 poisonous qualhy of the Ranunculus. A small quantity of the expressed 

 juice has killed a dog, and many a time the most painful and trouble- 

 some swellings have been produced by the absurd practice of applying 

 poultices or plaisters of the root of the butter-cup to sores. In some 

 cases the ulceration thus set up has resulted in caries of the bones. 



WILD RADISH, or RUNCH (Raphanus Raphanistrum, L., nat. ord. 

 Cruciferse), closely resembles the wild mustard, but its flowers are 

 white not yellow, and both these plants are commonly termed charlock. 



CORN POPPY (Papaver Rhseas, L., nat. ord. Papaveracese), is well 

 known from its brilliant red flowers ; it abounds mostly in dry, sandy, 

 or gravelly soils. One plant produces, on an average, 50,000 seeds. 



CORN BLUE-BOTTLE (Centaurea Cyanus, L., nat. ord. Composite). 

 This is also chiefly found in corn-fields, but it never thrives to any 

 great extent, or where proper attention is paid to the cleaning of 

 the soil. 



BLACK KNAPWEED (Centaurea nigra, L., nat. ord. Compositse). This 

 weed cannot be extirpated without difficulty ; it is propagated by its 

 roots as well as its seeds. Before blooming, the flower-head has the 

 appearance of a hard blackish scaly knob, whence the plant is some- 



