CHAPTER XXII 



WEEDS 



An ill weed grows apace. CHAPMAN. 



213. What plants are weeds ? Weeds have been called 

 "plants out of place." It is true that the vilest weed may 

 be of some use in the 



right place. Beside the 

 edge of a torrent a Can- 

 ada thistle may check the 

 cutting away of the soil 

 by the stream. On the 

 other hand, a wheat 

 plant may be as trouble- 

 some in a potato patch 

 as mustard would be. 

 Most plants, however, 

 that bother a farmer are 

 plants that are never, or 

 hardly ever, cultivated 

 by man. Some of them 

 perhaps are " only plants 

 whose use has not yet 

 been found." But for practical purposes, weeds may 

 be denned as useless plants that interfere with regular crops. 



214. Like useful plants, weeds are annuals, biennials, or 

 perennials. 



a) Annuals grow from seed only. The seed germinates 



291 



JOE PYE WEEDS. 

 A perennial common in wet places. 



