WEED, 



ciufed by the unwliolefome nature or ftate of the land on 

 which it grows : it may be deftroyed, it is fuppofed, by re- 

 moving the wetneis and top dreffing. Ste Pediculaius 

 Sylvatica. 



Yelloiu-ratth is a weed that is faid to grow generally in 

 moitl meadows in the coimty of Glouceller, and which 

 ripens its feeds, and fheds them before the time of mowing, 

 when the dry huflcs make a rattling noife under the fcythe : 

 at this time, it contains no nutritious juice at all, though, 

 when green, oxen and horfes will fometimes eat it rather 

 eagerly, and at other times refufe it. Having, however, 

 no defirabie quality to recommend its cultivation, and often- 

 times overrunning large patches of ground, it fhould be 

 eradicated and deftroyed ; and being a biennial, this, it is 

 thought, may eafily be done, by grazing the land for three 

 or four years in fncceilion, and taking care that the ftalks 

 that are left by the cattle be (l<immed off by the fcythe be- 

 fore they are ripe enongh to Ihed their feeds, or while they 

 are in full blofTom. In regard to its removal, it is ftated, 

 that a farmer near the northern borders of the fame county, 

 fhewed the writer a floping piece of grafs-land which had 

 been overrun with rattle : without any view to the deftruc- 

 tion of that he condufted the water of an adjoining ftream, 

 as well as lie could, over the piece which was not, however, 

 wholly watered ; but it proved that on the watered part, 

 the rattle was deftroyed, while it continued to grow on the 

 portion which had efcaped. No plant is more frequently 

 found mixed with the graffes in the meadows of Chefliire 

 than this ; but as it has nothing to recommend it, and the 

 farmers diflike it, the removal of it fliould be cfFefted to 

 make way for better herbage. See Rhinanthus Crijla- 

 gain. 



Dyer's-hroom is a weed that is feen very abundant in fome 



paftures on ftrong and moift land, whence, as it is often 



troublefome, it (hould be grubbed up, and be got quit of. 



Wood waxen, dyer's-weed, or bafe broom, grows abundantly, 



it is faid, in many parts of the vale of Gloucefterlhire, but 



generally on dry paftures : it is refufed by no cattle but 



fheep ; yet, being inferior to good gralfes, fhould be rooted 



out, except in places where, as in the neighbourhood of 



Briftol, it is coUeited and carried while in full blofTom to 



the manufafturers, who, by boiling and other means, ex- 



traft a fine yellow colour from it. See Genista TinBoria. 



Rcjl-harrow, or commock, is faid to be a weed often 



found in paftures, where it is eaten by cattle, efpecially the 



younger flioots of it ; but that it is too coarfe and rubbilhy 



to be fuffered to increafe, and (hould confequently be rooted 



out or grubbed up as foon as poflTible. In Gloucefterfhire it 



is faid, too, to be a moft troublefome weed, and a pretty fure 



proof of want of attention, culture, and manure ; as by the 



two former it may be eafdy cleared from arable land, as has 



been feen, and by well-rotted horfe-dung even pafture-lauds 



may be affifted ; but that rather than fuch a difguftiiig plant 



fhould continue to grow, where its place might be fupplied 



with good herbage, neither labour nor expence fhould be 



fpared. The little advantage it gives to flieep, wliich will 



eat the young fhoots before the prickles are formed, is not, 



it is fuppofed, a fufiicient inducement in the calculation of 



a good farmer to leave it undifturbed. In the parifh of 



Elmore, in that county, there is, it is faid, a pallure -ground 



almoft covered with it, which lies too far from the farm- 



houfe to have manure eafily conveyed to it. In lliis cafe, 



the occupier tried the experiment of drawing it out by the 



roots, but difcontinued it from the idea that it came up with 



greater ftrength, and in more abundance the fucceeding 



year. The fail is, that the bufinefs is but half done, if the 



roots are not entirely removed, as every broken piece will 



throw out fhoots ; and from long continuance of the plant 

 on the fpot, and the annual fhedding of the feeds of it, it 

 is probable that a new crop will arife in the following fpring: 

 but the farmer ftiould not be difcouraged, it is faid, on his 

 firft attempt ; fince, by continually watchmg the weeds in 

 their early growth, and cutting them off with the hoe, they 

 would gradually be deftroyed ; and the procefs would be 

 much affifted by well dreffing the places with rotten horfe- 

 dung, as fuggcfted above. See Ononis Spinofa, and Ar- 

 •uenjis. 



Common thijlle is a moft noxious weed among grafs 

 herbage : it has ftrong roots which (hoot out in a lateral 

 manner, and is a perennial plant of vigorous growth in fome 

 foils. It may be got quit of by cutting it off within the 

 ground, or by being rooted up ; for the former fort of work 

 the beft time is when the plants are coming into full blofFom, 

 as they then become fooneft rotten and deftroyed in their 

 hollow root parts ; and for the latter in pafture-lands when 

 the ground is well foaked with rain, and they can be drawn 

 eafily. They are fometimes very hurtful to the hay lands in, 

 the vicinity of the metropolis, where the management is bad. 

 See Serratula ylrvenjis, and Thistle. 



Rough large thijlles, or boar-thiftles, are weeds of a very 

 troublefome nature among grafs-crops, and which are always 

 to be got rid of without delay. They are generally mown 

 or other wife cut over, but are much better rooted or drawn 

 up. It is remarked by the writer of the Corredled Account 

 of the Agriculture of the County of Gloucefter, that thiftles 

 of all kinds are very unpleafant weeds in grafs-lands ; either 

 when green or dried with the hay, they annoy the cattle in 

 feeding, and confequently fiiould never be permitted to grow 

 long on any fuch land ; to prevent their growing at all, is, 

 it is thought, perhaps impoffible, but the increale of them 

 may be checked by early attention : while, however, they 

 are left to be mown with the grafs, or to remain undifturbed 

 in the highways during the fuinmer, the feeds will be dif- 

 perfed by the wind in various direftions over the country : 

 until a method be therefore adopted to correft the evil in its 

 infancy, the labour beftowed by good farmers for the extir- 

 pation of this weed will not, it is faid, produce a complete 

 effett, although it will prevent the plant from being carried 

 to the mow in a ftate of equal maturity with the hay, and 

 its feeds afterwards from being difperfed with the dung in 

 the fields. Was every farmer to do the fame, the encou- 

 ragement to perfevere in the praftice would be powerful ; 

 but that it is not probable, that a farmer will expend much 

 in doing what the negligence of a neighbour will render in- 

 cffeftual. Some of thefe thiftle-weeds are annual, others 

 biennial and perennial ; confeqriently, where the diflinftion is 

 not known, the fafe method is, it is faid, to cut the root 

 with a paddle, deep in the ground, or to draw up the root ; 

 and that this fliould be done for the firft time in the fpring, 

 and again on the lattermath in autumn. See Carduus 

 Lanceolatus, &c. Alfo Thistle. 



Cudiueed, or chafeweed, is a weed faid not to be uncom- 

 mon in paftures from arable land. It has been feen abun- 

 dantly in an upland pafture after barley, where the clover 

 had failed of fuccefs ; cattle refufe it, but it has been fup- 

 pofed to be fuccefsful in the bloody flux of cattle and of 

 the human fpecies : it leldom appears much in a grais-crop, 

 or efpecially when the artificial graffes fucceed v/cll. See 

 Gnaphalium German'icum. 



Ox-eye, white marigold, or great daify, is a weed common 

 in fome paftures, and not grateful, but which feldom abounds 

 fo as to be mucli injurious to the grafs, and which is eafily 

 drawn out by the hand or other fuch means. See Chrysan- 

 themum Leucaiilhemum. 



Black 



