OX THE WEEDING OF ROOT CEOPS. 345 



weeds are distributed generally in one of three ways; first, 

 by the seeds being naturally distributed, either dropping 

 from the plants, or being scattered abroad by the winds ; 

 secondly, by being mixed up with the seeds of crops ; and, 

 thirdly, by the plants with ripe seeds having been put into the 

 manure heap, and spread on the land along with the manure 

 in autumn or spring. As to the first of these, some notion 

 may be had as to the rapidity with which weeds may be 

 propagated, if we state briefly here the number of seeds 

 which each plant of our best known weeds bear. Thus 

 the corn cockle (agrostemma githago) bears on an average 7 

 flowers, and each flower 370 seeds, or 2,599 seeds in all. 

 The chickweed (stellaria media) has 50 flowers, each flower 

 10 seeds, or 500 seeds in all. The charlock (sinapis ar- 

 vensis) has 400 flowers, and each flower 10 seeds, or 4,000 

 seeds in each plant. The groundsel (senecw vulgaris) has 

 130 flowers, and 50 seeds in each plant, or 6,500 seeds in 

 all. But there are weeds which bear still more largely 

 than even those named, bad as they are. Thus the corn 

 seed thistle (sonchus arvensis) has 190 flowers, and each 

 190 seeds, or giving a product of 19,000 seeds for each 

 plant. But this is far exceeded by the red poppy (the 

 " rose-a-ruby " of our forefathers), that scourge of many a 

 field, so abundant indeed in some that the flowers far ex- 

 ceed apparently the plants, and give a fiery red to the 

 whole surface. Each plant of this terrible weed (papaver 

 rhoeus) bears 100 flowers, and each flower 500 seeds, or 

 in the whole 50,000 seeds. Enough has been given to 

 show the paramount importance of preventing weeds from 

 seeding. Bad farming, indeed, is it that will allow of the 

 weeds to grow so long without disturbance, as to approach, 

 even remotely, the seeding stage; but if, by neglect, they 

 have been allowed to approach it, we would strongly coun- 

 sel the farmer to save no trouble nor expense to have the 

 weeds pulled up ; and when pulled up and collected, let 

 him be by no means satisfied with an attempt to kill them 

 by placing them in the dung heap. Some may have seeded, 



