1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



become worthies?. We do not know how exten- 

 sive thi-! troub'e is, but if that in thi^ sectinn is 

 a ly ciierion, the loss will be found quite serious 

 as well as annoying. — Btrlin Wis. Dem. 



WEEDS. 



BY J. S. G., ADAMS CO., PA. 



T'le unusual quantity of weeds prevadinji the 

 past year throuuhout the farms in Adams County, 

 has become a>ul>j ct of inquiry araongour farmers. 

 Who hap noticed the vast qunnti y of soirel that 

 has I)e<'n preva ling every whire, in all kind-i of 

 soils and si nations? There, too, along side could 

 be seen th > chamomile, the red p"ppy, or thii de- 

 t' stable Shcttei-wfed. in t'ndliss profusion. — 

 Strangers Uiight suppose that firming had got to 

 b'' such a poor bu iness that we have turned our 

 fine fields into Botanical Gardens; but the dffioul- 

 ty shown in finding < ut the botanical name of the 

 Shelter- wecil, sli<i\vs how litt'e attention is paid to 

 t'le sulijoct of Botany in our midst. Our farmers, 

 instead of knowing the vari' us classes of weeds, 

 their nalnro, their power of impoveri-hing the soil, 

 care more about knowing h:rw to get rid of them. 

 The scien^'c of Botany may be said to have no 

 limUs, either in extent or variety ; the land and the 

 e.'ed botti \ield tlieir specimens. Even as an am- 

 usement it scarcely has a superior. In walking or 

 riding over the couiitiy the aitentioii is always 

 attracted by the trees and flowers. Its moral in- 

 fluence is als!> beneficial. The science of Botany 

 is the booi^ of nature. The very tr. es point us to 

 h av-n, the very weeds and flowers are maiked 

 wiih a ptirity, a loveliness which diiectsab'ive and 

 n turally leads us from nature's woks to nature's 

 God. In the most, delic iie flow rs that deck the 

 earth you may read the evidence of a Creator. 

 And yet how stniige it, is that it is not more a sub- 

 j<ct of study among our agricultudsts! Ask the 

 one-hiilf oftheni to }iive you the botanical name of 

 a weed, and you might as wi 11 ask them to "square 

 the circle " fur you — I suppose the reason is. that 

 iio money can be made by attending to it, and that 

 is a CO' elusive re:. son in our day. But to return 

 to our weeds. And by the way there is no such 

 thing as weed. Why is the wild flix any mote a 

 weed than the violet '! there is not a plant that 

 grows but is calculated to act some pirt in its 

 epiiere; either it assists to purify the air by throw- 

 ing off i.uie oxygen, its flower.-< gratify our seii.«es, 

 or it.i poisonous qualities may be useful in medi- 

 cine. Dr. John.«on says, '"The only fault weeds 

 liave is t> be out of their place." And the faitners 

 nni>t fill up the place they occupy so as to drive 

 them out of the fie d ; and one way to do this is by 

 sowing clover or tinioihy unusually thick, so as to 

 produce a shade so thick th^it the weeds cannot 

 get space, sun, or air ; and the grass w.ll in time 

 choke them out. Weeds cannot grow well, if 

 sniotheied by close adjoining plants. But there 

 are some weeds v\ hich start early and get ahead of 

 grass ; the only cure for them is to take them out, 

 root and all. Of this kind is the Canieliua, or wild 

 flax, which ought to be pulled out. It can be easily 

 done when the ground is wet, as the stem is very 

 tough, like flax, and will bear pulling. It will not 

 do to mow it off" before it ripens its seed, because 

 jou may in that way make a pereuial of it ; its sap 



will descend and enlarge its roots for another 

 year, and thus when you prevent the forming of 

 the seed if an annua], you may make a prennial of 

 it. I do not say it will in all coses ; nothing ex- 

 hau.sts a weed so much as producing its seed, and 

 animal plants generally have the most setd, and 

 they mostly die from the effect produced by tbe 

 sap having all gone to form the seed. Now, if you 

 gaihir the seed of the Sshetter-weed as soon as it 

 is ripe, or take it up by the roots before the seed is 

 ripe, you will soon put an end to it. The seed 

 of the Shetter-weed is a very fine yellow seed, 

 smaller than clover ?eed. In one pod of it I 

 counted eighteen seeds, t-nd on one stem I counted 

 one hundred and six pods, so that it bears a tre- 

 mendous quantity of seed The seed nod(mbt will 

 make a good oil, but I hope it will never be culti- 

 vated for that purpose. The leaf of the plant is 

 not bitter or at all disagreeable; the tops of it 

 taste v< ry much like the radish. — The sheep in the 

 field wheie it grows will not touch it, but would 

 rather starve. 



Some weeds have been noticed in certain spots 

 remaining there for years and then suddenly dis- 

 appearing. It may be explained in this way: the 

 seeds of tho parent plant fall down annually, and 

 of course biing forth the same species the next 

 .spring, and so keep on for years until they have 

 exhausted from that spot the particular substai ce 

 in the soil necessary for their existtnce, and not 

 being able to foim their seed at last, they must die. 

 •^ome persons may calculate on .getting r d of the 

 Shetti r-weed in that way ; but its seed is so light 

 that the winds will cary it off in all diiections. 

 One reason. I think, why we have such an unusual 

 quantity of weeds the past summer is. that we have 

 had such warm wet weather early in the spiing, 

 which caused the seeds then lying on the ground 

 to vegetate, and thus get a good start before the 

 dry weather came on. The great quantity of soirel 

 that prevails can only be killed by Lirge ajplica- 

 tions of quick lime ; as it is a strong acid the lime 

 will neutralize it. 



It might be possible that all these noxious weeds 

 have been biought into our country by the droves 

 of cattle and sheep from the west. They have 

 brought »hem by degrees, bringing them a certain 

 distance one year, and leaving them in the field; 

 the seeds having passed t'^rough them in an un- 

 digested state, then springing up are eaten by the 

 cattle coining after, and taken on some distiince 

 again, until they have reached our field in this 

 way. It is to be hoped our farmers will »11 pull 

 out, root and branch, the Shetter-weed, and thus 

 effectually get rid of it. J. S. G. 



— Farmer & Gardener. ■ ,. . 



Cooking Pood for Cattle. ' 



Wishing to make an addition to one of my baniB 

 this season, and being anxious to put in an appa- 

 ratus for steaming dry food for cattle, and having 

 seen some excellent articles on the subject in the 

 current volume of the Courdry Gentleman, by H. 

 H. Peters, Esq., of Southborough, Ma-^s., 1 lately 

 visit«'d his place for further iufoimation. Mr. P. 

 is among the largest breeders of put e Ayrshire cat- 

 tle, if not the largest in the countiv. Uis herd 

 now exceed.s ninety head, all thoi ot^h-bred, full 

 blooded animals, very many having been importtd 



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