219 



if Jim 



• The seeds are large, and when 

 ,own in wet sods, generally burst and rot without vegetating. There is some difference of 



Vj 



ca 



m 



„„iel, are cultivated in gardens, and sold in the shops. I never could observe that any part of this plant .astouehed by 



» ■ ■ 



3, Antirrhinum llmrca. Common Toad Flax, or Bntter and Eggs. Curt. Lond. Eng. Bot.658; Flo. Dan. 982. 



1 -.i„»f ninrn rnmmori liv t.hp siidpa r»f fl^lrU ti • ^i _ i i i^ .1 . ^ . 



A percu- 



,, plant, more eon,n,on b, the sides of fields than in the body of the pastures. Dr. Withering says, that an infusion of the 

 is diurefc and purgative; and an ointment prepared from them gives relief in the piles. The expressed juiee mixed «it! 



leaves 

 milk 



..... ^ - ' - . f-"' -"- ^Ai'»c3si:u juice mixca With 



„,i,k^ ;.: a po.son to fl.es, as ,s hkew.se the smell of the flowers. Cows, horses, and swine refuse it ; sheep and goats are not fond 

 ifit. 



' - m 



r , 



i. Erica vulsaris. Common Heath; called Ling in England, a.id Heather in Scotland. Curt. Lond. 297; E Bot 1013- Flo 

 Dan. 677.-When dry pastures abound with this plant, they take the name of Heaths. It can only be extirpated bv parino- and 

 burning, and converting the pasture into tillage ; this has been effected with profit, by several occupiers of such land in ScoUand 

 and England. It is the most valuable material for the construction of bush-drains. Bees extract honey largely from the 

 flowers, which is of good quality, but of a reddish colour. In the Highlands of Scotland, the poorer inhabitants make walls 

 for their cottages with alternate layers of Heath, and a kind of mortar, made of black earth and straw; the woody parts 

 of the Heath being placed in the centre, and the tops externally and internally. They .nake their beds of it, by placingthe 

 roots downwards, and the tops uppermost ; they are sufficiently soft to sleep upon. Scott says- 



u 



■ ' — — the stranger's bed 



Was there of monntain heather spread, 

 Where oft an hundred guests had Iain, 

 And dreamed their forest sports again ; 

 Nor vainly did the heath-flowers shed 

 Its moorland fragrance round his head/' 





m ' 



They also use it for thatcli. In the island of Hay, Ale is often made by brewing one part of Malt, and two parts of the youn 

 tops of Heath ; sometimes they add Hops. Boelhius relates, that this liquor was much used by the Picts. Sheep and goats wiU 

 sometimes cat the tender shoots, but they are not fond of them. Cattle, not accustomed to browse on Heath, Linnaus says, 

 give bloody milk at first, but are soon cured, by drinking plentifully of water. The branches of Heath afford shelter; and the 

 seeds, a principal part of the food of many birds, especially those of the grous kind ; and the seed-vessel is formed in such a 

 manner, that the seeds are preserved the whole year/ and even longer. In the north of Scotland, ropes are made of it, as strong, 

 as durable, and nearly as pliant, as Hemp, Consult Pen. Tour ; Gametes Tour ; Light. Scot.; Withering, &c. 



5. JRunium hulhocastanum. Earth-nut, Pig-nut, Ycr nut. E. Bot. 98S.--A perennial plant, with a tuberous root. 

 Swme are fond of the roots ; cattle do not appear to touch the leaves or branches. Being a diminutive plant, it is not much to 

 l)c feared as a weed. 



■ 



L 



6. Campanula rotundifolia. Common Bell-flower, Witches' Thimble. E. Bot. 866.— There is hardly a plant that indicates 



more the extreme barrenness of a soil, than this. It is a perennial, flowering in July and August ; the flowers are blue, some- 

 times nearly white, 



'^. Ccntaurea calciirapa. Star Thistle. E. Bot, t. 125. — This is a biennial plant, and a very troublesome weed. It is fre- 

 quent by road-sides, as well as in dry rough pastures. The flowers are at first a deep red. It flowers in July and August. It 

 "^3y he overcome by the same means as was recommended for the Dwarf Thistle. 



8. ChrijsantJieimim leucanth 



emum. Ox-eye Daisy, Moon Flower, Maudlin Wort. E. Bot. 601. — This plant is a percn- 



'^'^ and flowers in June and July. It propagates by the root, and extensively by the seed. There arc no means of extirpating 

 rom dry pastures, but by converting the land into tillage for several years, and keeping the hedge-rows, patli-sidcs, &c. per- 

 ^ctly clean during the course of crops. 



^- ^onzT/a squarrosa. Great Fieabane, Ploughman's Spikenard. Eng, Bot. 1193.— A biennial plant, very common on dry 

 "^}' pastures, but more particularly on converted heaths; and there constitutes the most troublesome weed. The plant is 

 with white woolly hairs, which make it conspicuous; it grows from two inches to two feet in height, according to the 

 ^Ptb of the soil in which it is produced : in hedges it attains to the greatest height. It will be found a vain attempt to subdue 

 /^P'ant, if the hedges and path-sides are suffered to produce and foster it. The seed is produced in abundance, and being 

 '^''^' is easily dispersed by the wind. It flowers in July and August. Its dwarf size, Avhen in poor soils, and the peculiar struc- 



sa 

 covered 



