9 
have many native weeds that are particularly aggressive under the 
conditions there found, and many introduced weeds thrive with great 
vigor in irrigated fields. The irrigating process offers especial advan- 
tages for the rapid distribution of weed seeds, and there is need of 
especial care to provide against injury from a practice that is otherwise 
most beneficial. Arizona is the only one of these States that has 
passed any laws against weeds. 
There are no Federal laws on the subject of weeds. This is doubt- 
less due to the fact that no weed has yet been regarded as of sufficient 
national importance for Federal action. Most weeds are necessarily 
local in their character because of the diversity of climate, soils, and 
methods of farming. Less than a half dozen species occur throughout 
the whole United States as really troublesome weeds, and of the few 
that are so universally distributed only the one species known as cockle- 
bur is mentioned in the present State laws. 
ESSENTIAL PROVISIONS OF A GENERAL STATE WEED LAW. 
A study of the methods by which weeds may be eradicated, together 
with a consideration of existing laws and the circumstances under 
which such laws must be carried out, affords ground for the suggestion 
of certain provisions which may form the basis of a general State weed 
law. The weed law here proposed has been carefully revised by a 
jurist familiar with legal usages and constitutional requirements: 
AN ACT for the extirpation of such weeds as are most injurious to the interests of the farming 
community of the State of or Territory of 
Be it enacted, etc. : 
SECTION 1. A permanent commission to be known as the State Weed Commission 
is hereby created to consist of the State botanist ex officio [or similar State officer] 
and four eminent farmers who have a fair knowledge of the botany of the State, 
who shal! be appointed and commissioned by the governor, by and with the advice 
and consent of the senate, and shall hold their offices for a term of years, 
respectively, or until their successors are appointed. The governor shall have 
power to fill all vacancies that may happen in the commission during the recess of 
the senate by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of its next session. 
Nearly all of the States now have a State botanist or a botanist con- 
nected with the agricultural college or experiment station whose regu- 
lar duties keep him informed in regard to the most dangerous weeds, 
and especially in regard to recently introduced plants, which are likely 
to become troublesome in his State. The technical knowledge of the 
botanist and the practical knowledge of the farmers on the commission 
are needed together to decide what ought to be done and what is really 
practicable. Some of the laws that have been passed, owing to an 
imperfect knowledge of the weeds of the State, are aimed at compara- 
tively harmless or local plants. Others are defective in vital points, 
evidently because of alack of scientific information, and many contain 
provisions that are impracticable in farming communities. 
