6o4 WEEDS ; SPECIAL 



pletely altering the character of the soil exterminates the plant. 

 On arable ground it can be checked by destroying the stems by 

 ploughing and cutting, but no ordinary tillage can possibly eradi- 

 cate it altogether, as the rhizomes lie too deep to be touched by 

 farm implements. 



11. Weeds of Pastures. 



A very large variety of indigenous plants occurring naturally 

 in meadows and pastures must be considered weeds. They are 

 very various in their degrees of uselessness, some being injurious 

 or poisonous to stock, while others are refused by animals, and 

 of such a chemical composition as to possess little or no nutri- 

 tive value. Some, again, may yield a certain amount of food to 

 animals consuming them, but their place might frequently be 

 taken by plants of greater feeding-value if the pasture or 

 meadow were properly managed. 



Only a few of common occurrence can be enumerated, but it 

 should be the aim of all farmers to make a more extended study 

 of the botanical composition of their pastures whenever oppor- 

 tunity offers, with a view to distinguish the various plants growing 

 upon it, and to find methods, if possible, by means of which the 

 valuable plants may be increased and the inferior ones checked. 



The means at command to exterminate or check weeds in 

 pastures and meadows are briefly : — 



(i) Cutting with machine, scythe, or spud two or three times a 

 year. This prevents many weeds from forming seeds, and also 

 hinders and weakens the development of numbers of them. 



(ii) Hand pulling and complete digging up. 



(iii) Working with harrows, drags, and similar implements 

 helps the decomposition of humus by allowing air and water 

 to penetrate more freely, thus altering the acidity and other 

 characters of the soil : the change acts unfavourably upon some 

 weeds and reduces their vigour, 



(iv) Drainage. 



