CHAPTER III. 



THE POSSIBILITY OF DESTROYING WEEDS. 



The prevalence of noxious weeds in the 

 United States and Canada is simply alarm- 

 ing. They abound on every hand. In 

 many sections, in one form or another, they 

 flourish in every field and luxuriate in every 

 crop. Gardens, which above all places on 

 the farm should be clean, are literally over- 

 run with them. They occupy the sides of 

 nearly every road throughout the whole 

 continent. To so great an extent do they 

 prevail everywhere that they form one great 

 dark blot upon the boasted progress of the 

 twentieth century, and are a reproach upon 

 its civilization. 



The extent to which weeds prevail in 

 nearly all parts of this continent would 

 lead one to suppose that the farmers had 

 abandoned all efforts to destroy them, and 

 were content to gather from their fields, 



