536 THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE AND AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. [Tune 9, 1860, 
h usbandry, the ultimate arguments ‘of this pap wiil | s0; I shall, therefore, br riefly refer to them. In Grass | origin i in the aren big e of the lea 
af to the outline of a 
plant is perennial, and flowers fr om May 
an instance ai y the well kno Hotham be filled with seri plants. “In arable ene they | until July. The e S of this plant, all ‘of which ad 
Essays on eseirierthe an ture. receiving tha arein, Soak, di Et ae: or less common in Cheshir ae an 
receive very both oat be 
b 
plots forming part of a field, the a of. which was a clay | the atmosphere which they otherwise would do, In the Common Buttercup or Bu thou dow Crow- 
loam of rbir i inferior qualit: y, were subjected to suc- bosh they siproprinta to themselves 
Crow- 
cessive Wheat growing without the application of any ge for the farmer ge ets no return ; and, if| foot, or the Acrid Crowfoot sis re acris 3); the 
manure. itted to grow they Creeping Crowfoot topitur oA and the can 
for 13 years, and the produce, though annually | increase a the risk at harv rest time; bye we all know that Crowfi oot (Ranunculus arvens sis). crid Crowfoo 
fluctuating in TET according to the climatic | weedy crops tacit with Lola . ` y but all are more 
character of the seasons, averaged over the entire | the barn or the s as cle = ad Not only do ese pe s oc emie onsiderable 
period 16 bushels per acre of prime marketable corn;| Strangers in passing tropke Cheshire and Lancashire in many of our ner e pogo j in those 
the conviction hence arising that a continuation of the | often notice the Rushy state w ari ne our pastures which are rather rape w vane. J ey are generally most 
same treatment, how long soever protracted, would have | and meadows; but the occupier hink, y rert as food fo 
ute’ 
been attended with the same productive result; in | sible for these, It is well prot ‘at oa only ‘effectual pets = ‘should "cherefore be expelled from the lay 
other words, the conclusion deducible from this experi- | way of destroying Rushes is by draining—an operation | as soon as possible. Curtis, in pt He Londinensis,”* 
ment was, that these yearly 16 bushels of Wheat | which it is unreasonable to expect a tenant, unless he | referring to the Ranuncu ulus a says :—* Insti tine 
represented the quantum of Wheat-growing pabulum | holds a long lease, wholly to effect. I contend, there- | rarely fails i in directing graminivorous animals wa reject 
which this particular soil was capable of yearly toro; that where Rushes do still exist, the 
nee we 
elaborating. Remem mbering then the _accumulative | sh ould have the full share of the blame. seldom find this and the other acrid s species of Crowfont 
t I -haye within the last few years had occasion to eaten by ye at but we know that under certain 
cir- 
when not withdrawn ” by the abnormal appetites of | i insp estates a different Pent arts of En LS and I| cumstances they will err, and become poisoned or 
tilled plants, i is very conceivable, a priori, chat t had | mu om ~~ that ink w are more pe to diseas sed.” Gerar rd t (an n old writer) says :— —“ This plant 
a bare fallow intervened in any year of this ea ee and prire tiii they are B 
secot the ing one woul n of | c ies, an ndt tha t the far om here has Sierehire more | deadly for sheepe, and if they feed a the s 
i pi d 1 
same, it 
aasa amount. And such in reality w nd you all know that the clay-land|inflameth their liver, fretteth and blistereth their 
sequ ree in another of ben Syne ‘whieh K six ‘clas is bi raid to plough a little deeper than | entrailes.” 
aacseaate e years was altern: cropped and bare | usual, lest he houli b ring ie the surface the seeds of} It will be unnecessary, I am sure, to multiply gre 
Thistles, Coltsfoot, and other weeds, which have la ain opinio ns. Iam sati sfie d that th 
th 
owed. y 
But what b practical bearings of these instances ? | dormant for ages but which the genial influence the more convinced you 
aes pret this we reply = at they serve to illustrate ch light and air s cause to vegetate and to take | will be of the propriety of destroying them. In moist 
im porta nt agricultural proposition, that while it | possession of thee soil. Our coalpit hills and the sides | lands draining will assist you; in pastures, mow them 
is i physiology true ‘et riani of the plants of of our many old marl pits bear aa testimony. down early, or, if not very EERTE d cut them out with 
ordinary cultivation consume in their growth a larger| Having made these few introductory remarks, Iwill|a at Ls ud or hoe. But the most ere remedy, 
proportion of mineral pabulum than others, yet never- | now proceed to notice a few of bat most t very prevalent, is to bi eak up the Ia nd, 
theless a con stan t „succession of the gr reedi est of them | and common pis of this dist nd I h 
ear with me if I fail, es tear 1 ‘shall do, te ‘take the „winter frosts. If you fail “to wage continual ka 
in which t y are rooted and grow or go one the subject iibatedtitig a to extract from th =E other noxious woods sy your 
beyond a m r less rapacious spptopeanttins of t the re plants any matter per will suit your tastes lands and he de s, you have no right to expect either 
aliments When’ oded elaborated. If indeed from any ¢ cir- | a eatiaty y your expectations. that your | cattle will be always jeij: or that their 
ch Grass.—Its botani 
1 sa Teste 
in nle. th +}. 21) 
ple fe Aes ra rass), or, as some writers have it,| Char ck (Sinapis ` arvensis) infests your arable lands, 
perc chen tivo his the term wat tion, as | Agr opyr um nse,’ This weed is found in both | and i is, perhaps better known to you as Yellow Weed» 
applied in i grli vara to the effects. reir light and strong ‘oh eih in rass and arable | or Wild Mustard. This weed is An annual, and is pro- 
from the cultivation of any y given tribe of oe nts or land, but it is ost prev: or and Tate the m 
ost y so t 
aty re „in an arable state, espe- | seeding, it cannot multiply ; but it is well that it 
Under the old Scottish seven if t hey hav ve been Tong tilled and by a slovenly — be pulled up or hoed down before it is even in 
i d i f the soil 
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pae es check to their perennial fertility though Pa Its creeping and jointed roots grow and spr flower, if yo 
more lf of the farm g yearly under | very rapidly, and it is ‘i this way, more than by the tee profitable plants. Farmers shoul e them- 
and oe bheirt under fallow treatment. hê pping of its seeds, that it nsually becomes propa- | selves well acquainted with the seed, in order to avoid 
Somersetshire ata ae ying suffer no| gated. I need not tell you that, when it exists in pad of it with Turnips, or Barley, 
ar 4 À heir periodical subjection to | arable land, and Pe! undisturbed, it rapidly spreads | which Charlock is en. prevalent am: ongst. 
intermittent cereal cropping: ‘The pilgrim fathers of | and it is difficult to thoroughly | instances—perha) any—it is taken to the field 
stamped no indelible infertility on their Wheat | dispossess it Formi erly, when land became very foul, ‘with some manure “that has wnei pon collected 
one Tobacco fields, since, ev cor obseryed phenomenon in | and especially S oe T was a stiff one, the Soika: s e barn doo) y xed w 
5 gives rise to. the aegon that were the land | of | only medy aoa sine and, rons refuse of the winnowings. These, sed ba tell up 
the older states ion rom cultivation rse has to bi abii bound wi jection seeds i 
PAR am pess as i that which preceded the | B we thy more genera prt i is i o cultivate and clean Charlock. The Wild Radish (Raphanus tapan isba 
whi te m landing on the western continent, the| the land as much as the weather in autum d spring | a) eed, i times confounded wit 
depleted “fields would again accumulate an exu ms om pew permit, plant irris Turnips, Mangel Wurzel, or | Charlock, but is easily distinguished from it. It 
i athe er with that which they yielded up to | other green crops in drills, and so complete the exter- | requires the same means for its destruction as Char- 
the fi mination of the weeds, by the means, of Gage Ss lock. The seeds ‘of bot h weeds have been, known to 
Aeru therefore from his creed the sapersti- | and hands, whilst the crop is growing up. in the soil for 40 
tious notion that the growth of any given Species | of 
stubbles, where Couch js not very Later iti is not I salt to remind (you that this, as well a all the 
La 
+h ; as soon asthe corn 
romote those chemical actions in the soil which | be bat ee especially on small farm and many of their seeds are, thevetore, Tikely to 
result in the no n land in ae e is about ~~ be = ie: either be: iad with the aa of reaping; this is another reason, 
the enw wor ch 8 first care should soot S on that | to "eet Apor ry o Aau nt ing is more | if any be oti ana the corn crops should be carefully 
fundamental proposition of tillage farming truly | important than the thorough extirpation of Couch and | weeded. I m: ntion, in oe that the 
teaches th at although the ho seo untilled Sa weeds, If Couch exists, it will spring up and | Mustard (Sinapis alba), and t Mustard (Sina ed a 
tain amount of increase, f the Clover, q thi d ide z 
e that aioe re Tirta ana fanetioh otee tibia o a isplace some o s e c over Ry e-grass, and other seeds, nigra), are culti tiva ated p plants; the latter i is consider 
i disappeared. The Cheshire farmer expects, White Mestad is that usually sown in our gardens 
cultivation. Hence perfect tillage ought be th t teract thi eaten as a salad along with Oe: Lettuce, a 
Dastcpertinee n the cha aises Paikiai. p s xt 2 bone manure ; but whilst this stimulates the best verele ani it is the Rowe peod of this and the 
in importance is the ex f manuring, and into | herbage, and is, no doubt, highly beneficial, it will Black Mustard that affords one of the most common 
ihilate the Couch, although it may less obstinat condiments of our dining tables. It is now 
aoe ce wowiliinqnireinasbsequent paper Meanwhile | weeds. | grown in some parts of DORUS either eA: me fed re by 
oncom 0 atA ee the subject as to state, oo s.—I am ete ee whether it Shadowed bet Yorn Rage a ge loughed in 
examined, manures k Bent 
class of 
ae soe a gree 
o | local es, excepting the Creeping or account of it is given in ‘the seven oth pecs td e of the 
ies but pelong aoa Groat nigra), ii is Aen called Kaia Agricultural  Society’s bliċation. Bl 
each. Black Twitch. een that th geal is, I 
one set the | (Agrost algaris) ; White E nd eat G e, the kind most commonly adopted for domestic 
‘which planta ‘up in the | Bent or Agrostis stolonifera ‘not | Common Thistle arvensis) is a difficult weed 
Fae eet or soil will not them with | myself s Hy acquainted with S| ta aoe ets d the seeds 
Rar cient quan y de ; on are farm-yard dung, guano, | varieties to stentity them, - that which I take to be | after lodging in » i S rak 
pe-cake, and by far the greater namber of the sub- the Black Bent is ae ge = 
The 
lodging in these soils ny y ppear 
found ise: reval mt I i inciple : n 
stances usu ally applic ‘ as fertalisers; as p valent ın | lose not the vital principle ; for who has not often seen 
ya 
th ree for a aon a CET field has been ploughed a little dee 
ual, or when in draining the subsoil h Pot 
factions into action by means of intai tances peera Mea Soft naan t or Wooll ly S oft ¢ Gadi (Hol oleus it been left on the surface, hie Noon thts awali 
As or no part but that of rankent, and themselves jikata), “often abounds in the second year after r laying gue est presents | itself to our notice ? Various s sogge estio 
cient in a rA e am degree of the elements of | down land to Grass, It springs spontaneously, 
vegetative fertility. A. one e who esi it ever thinks of sowing its isodi 
ke there 
other natural Grasses it is pin nial, and ofte aeieea whó allows it to go to seed, dingo in his igi or his 
aries quanti ity of herbage. ‘Cattle will eat it, | hedges, the most tidy farmer must never expect to 
ECTURE ON WEEDS.* | but only when they cannot get anything better. It is wholly free from it. at wehbe ic 
WEED has been described a3 “any plant which | | distinguished from the Creeping or Bearded Soft Grass | in Rutlandshire—says : Tigran Fegan is to have them 
grows spontaneonsly on cultivated ground.” It Mics leus noia another inferior Grass, by the root not | q d he a year (the 
is almost superfluous that I should poins out to| creeping, and by being much more woolly. Neither of | time of go ing over them being np ey nwo ma a “May, 
those whom I am now addressing what are the dis. | ‘hese aes can be goi aa of except by a course of| the second time either et before harv rectly. 
à and Jo . cor din, 
M S 
Q 
PE E E 
s sustained on those farms w! tillage, and by sowing plentifully other natural Grass | after, er tances theol ; 
w ire suffered to exist; at the same time, oni seeds of a better kind when the land is again laid down s Ai ot or} Ba them up below the en) fie or est ier pis ae 
that this address would be incomplete if I did not do | t° Grass. Bern Meh th eich Tse aE 
nocd fame Taegan, Eels | Buttercup, or Crowfoot.—The name buttereup seems stroyed. araar partion itg this hek rk is the 
ORENA of the members of the Over Agricultural Societ: as that of drawing 
Warana Prt 20, 1860, by Henry White, Land Agent, &c,, | eating of the plant by milch cows n a aes n Where ‘disappointment occurs after- spudding oF 
oe colour to butter. ing, in consequence of the work of eradi- 
