8 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 
even loss of human life is sometimes due to the deadly poison of the 
Hemlock, through the mistaking of its tuberous roots for harmless 
artichokes. In the Great Plains Region, horses and cattle are 
killed or made worthless by the “Loco Weeds.” Some wild grasses, 
such as the Squirrel-tail Grass, or Wild Barley, and the Porcupine 
Grass, cause injury to the-animals that graze on them by: the 
lodgment of their barbed awns in the lining of mouth, throat, and 
stomach, causing painful inflammation, ulceration, and death. 
Milk, butter, and cheese are rendered unmarketable by the taint of 
Wild Onion or Garlic and the bitter Mustards. Cockles “cut the 
grade” of the wheat and spoil the flour if ground with it. Tick- 
seeds and burs yearly lessen the value of the wool-clip from the 
farmer’s flocks. Altogether, the losses sustained by the American 
farmer from this cause are greater than he suspects or would believe. 
A needless loss, too; for there is no weed so vicious that it cannot 
be subdued, with profit to the owner of the soil, if its habits are 
well understood and sufficient determination goes to the battle. 
But nothing in the world is so bad as to be entirely evil. It is 
only fair to admit that weeds do sometimes perform useful services 
to theland. Their presence compels tillage, and the most profitable 
farming is that which keeps the ground well tilled. They form the 
greater part of the covering which Nature promptly spreads over 
soil that the shiftless cultivator has left bare and neglected, keeping 
it from being blown about by winds, washed away by flood or rain, 
or baked into a barren desert by the sun. And such a weed- 
blanket, if turned under the ground in preparing it for a better crop, 
will supply the soil with green manure or humus, which it very much 
needs. Itis not the best type of feeding crop for the land, but it is 
better than none. It is well that Nature is thus able to redeem the 
sins of slothful and selfish men, but her processes are too slow. The 
world grows no larger and its population increases very fast. The 
surest hope of its continued comfort and prosperity lies in better 
husbandry. 
