HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [43 



casionthe necessity of summer fallows. On neglected farms they 

 are known to take away more corn than the tithe-man. The follow- 

 ing are those principally infesting the arable land of this county. 1. 

 Couch grass, provincially squitch, which signifies the roots of peren- 

 nial grasses, as the bent grasses, (agrostis) ; dog's-grass, (triticum 

 repens) ; creeping soft grass, (holcus mollis) ; the tall oat-grass, 

 (avena elat tor) ; and some others: the last-mentioned grass has 

 bulbous roots, which breed or shelter grubs, worms, &c. These roots 

 are sometimes so interwoven with the soil in hard tilled land, as to 

 form a perfect matting, and choke up the plough. They are only 

 to be destroyed by repeatedly ploughing the land and working it 

 in hot dry weather, or by forking-out and burning the squitch. 

 2. Coltsfoot, (tussilago farfara) ; and, 3. horse-tail, (equisetum ar- 

 vense}. These are to be destroyed by early spring ploughing, as 

 they blossom and seed in March ; and will then, if cut, bleed to 

 death. To extirpate them entirely requires repeated ploughing 

 and hand-weeding, and by perseverance, and laying clean to grass, 

 they will at length disappear. 4. Creeping thistle or saw-wort, 

 (serratula arvensis], growing every where, may be weakened by 

 good tillage and weeding ; but its seeds fly all over the country, 

 if suffered to ripen, as well as those of coltsfoot and the ranker 

 thistles, and also groundsel (senecio vulgaris). They should, by 

 universal consent, be cut before seeding, in hedges, waste places, 

 and elsewhere, and might thus be extirpated. 5. Chadlock, pro- 

 nounced kedlock : three distinct weeds bear this name, viz. wild 

 mustard, wild rape, and wild radish. If they are suffered to shed 

 their seed in one tillage they appear in the next, and are thus per- 

 petuated, which is the case with all the seedling weeds. They can 

 only be destroyed by pulverizing the land early in spring, and 

 ploughing them up or harrowing them out as they appear, or by 

 hoeing or weeding them out of all crops before they ripen and shed 

 their seed. Other weeds of this class are, 5. Ivy-leaved chick- 

 weed, (veronica hederifolia) ; 6. common chickweed, (alsine media) ; 

 7. bindweed, (convolvulus arvensis) ; 8. pale arsmart or lake-weed, 

 (polygonum pensylvanicum) ; 9. bladder campion, (cucululus behen) ; 

 10. corn poppy, (papaver rh&as) ; 11. corn crowfoot, (ranunculus 

 arvensis); 11. nettle hemp, (galeopsis tetrahit) ; 12. shepherd's 

 purse, (thlaspi'bursa-pastoris) ; 13. groundsel, (senecio vulgaris) ; 

 14. tare, (ervum tetraspermum) ; 15. corn marigold, (chrysanthe- 

 mum segetum) ; 16. corn chamoraile, (anthemis arvensis) ; 17. knap- 

 weed, (centaurea) ; and, 18. fern, (pteris aquilina); and many others. 



