A BUNCH OF HERBS 



cure in two summers. Of course the plow 

 or the scythe, if not allowed to rest more 

 than a month at a time, will finally conquer 

 it. 



Or take the common St. John's-wort, — 

 how has it established itself in our fields 

 and become a most pernicious weed, very 

 difficult to extirpate ; while the native spe- 

 cies are quite rare, and seldom or never in- 

 vade cultivated fields, being found mostly 

 in wet and rocky waste places. Of Old 

 World origin, too, is the curled-leaf dock 

 that is so annoying about one's garden and 

 home meadows, its long tapering root cling- 

 ing to the soil with such tenacity that I 

 have pulled upon it till I could see stars 

 without budging it ; it has more lives than 

 a cat, making a shift to live when pulled up 

 and laid on top of the ground in the burning 

 summer sun. Our native docks are mostly 

 found in swamps, or near them, and are 

 harmless. 



Purslane — commonly called "pusley," 

 and which has given rise to the saying, " as 

 mean as pusley " — of course is not Ameri- 

 can. A good sample of our native purslane 

 is the claytonia, or spring beauty, a shy, 

 delicate plant that opens its rose-colored 

 151 



