USES OF WEEDS 205 



lively air to an animal before selling him. The chopped leaves 

 are supposed to increase egg production when fed to poultry. 1 

 Nettles also have their value as human food, the young 

 tops being boiled in spring like spinach. They are used 

 very largely in this way by the peasantry in the West of 

 Ireland. A useful rennet is made by adding a quart of salt 

 to three pints of a strong decoction of nettles. When a table- 

 spoonful is put into a large bowl of milk the latter readily 

 clots, forming a pleasant beverage, free from any flavour of 

 nettle. 2 If a leaky wooden vessel be rubbed with a handful 

 of nettle leaves the juice enters the cracks and coagulates, and 

 the leakage is repaired, though no hint is given as to the 

 length of time the repair holds good. The leaves are also 

 placed on the top of baskets of Kentish plums to preserve the 

 bloom but it is doubtful whether the nettle leaves have any 

 specific value in themselves or whether they simply keep away 

 interfering hands by virtue of their stings. 



1 Wilson, loc. cit. 2 Pratt, loc. cit. 



