1857.] THE AMERICAN WATER-WEED. 195 



did so, "the weed would inevitably enter with the water, and 

 blockade the ditches" (p. 16). Well, just what I predicted has 

 happened. The water has been let in, and the ditches are block- 

 aded ; the consequence is, that a considerable sum of money has 

 now to be annually expended in clearing them. 



That it is a nuisance elsewhere than in the Fens is evident from 

 a letter I received from a gentleman at Trentham, in Staffordshire, 

 so lately as the 6th inst., asking my opinion of the best mode of 

 getting rid of it in the lake there. He says : — '^ The American 

 weed {Anacharis Alsinastrum) is causing a great amount of 

 anxiety here on account of its amazing growth, and the tenacity 

 with which it clings to those spots where it once takes possession. 

 There is a beautiful sheet of water, of about eighty acres, through 

 which the river Trent passed previous to the year 1853, when its 

 channel was diverted, but there are still places where the connec- 

 tion is maintained, although but slightly so. About three years 

 ago the Anacharis first made its appearance in the river, a short 

 distance above the lake; it had previously taken possession of 

 the Trent and Mersey Canal, with which there are means of com- 

 munication, and a month afterwards it was visible in the lake. 

 Both last year and the previous one it had increased so rapidly 

 as to require removal by manual labour : but the more it was 

 disturbed the faster it grew. This year it covers the entire sur- 

 face, and in so dense and tvonderful a manner that no amount of 

 labour seems capable of removing it, or even keeping it under. It 

 actually grows faster than it can be cleared off, the mode of which 

 is, first by cutting, and then drawing it together by means of 

 long rafts, collecting it on the shore, and either carting it away 

 or placing it in heaps for decomposition. The Duke and Duchess 

 of Sutherland are much concerned on the subject. I told Mr. 

 Heming, the gardener here, that I would write to you, and I 

 doubt not you will favour me with any information your greater 

 experience suggests. Do you know whether the weed still causes 

 the annoyance to traffic on the canals and places it did at the 

 time you wrote, or whether there are any chances of its exhaust- 

 ing itself by natural means ? If there was any probability of the 

 latter being the case, the matter would become simply one of 

 time ; if not, the expense of keeping so large a surface as the lake 

 clear, even in an ordinary way, would be a serious consideration, 

 because it would be an annual one. If you know of any plan by 



