WEEDS. 



XV 



hooks by which they adhere to clothing and the coats of animals, and 

 are widely distributed by this agency. All of the Thistles, and many 

 others of the same family, have a tuft of fine silky hair attached to the 

 seed, or more properly fruit, by which they are buoyed upon the air, and 

 wafted from place to place. So numerous are the ways by which seeds 

 are dispersed, that, however careful a farmer may be upon his own prem- 

 ises, a slovenly and neglectful neighbor may cause him infinite annoyance 

 by furnishing his lands with an abundant supply. In some European 

 countries a farmer may sue his neighbor for neglecting to destroy the 

 weeds upon his lands, or may employ people to do it at the delinquent's 

 expense. 



The vitality of seeds, particularly if buried in the earth below the 

 reach of the influences which cause germination, in some cases endures 

 through many years ; hence, an old field, after deep plowing, has often a 

 fine crop of weeds from the seeds thus brought to the surface. Weeds 

 that have been cut or pulled after they have flowered, should not be 

 thrown into the barnyard or hog-stye, unless the farmer wishes to have 

 the work to do over again with their progeny, as the seeds will be thor- 

 oughly distributed in the manuring of the land . In England they dry 

 the pernicious weeds and burn them, not only destroying root and branch, 

 but seed also. In all weeding, it is of the greatest importance that it 

 should be done before the plants have formed seed. This should be re- 

 garded equally with annual and perennial weeds. The prolific character 

 of some weeds is astonishing ; each head of an Ox-eye Daisy or White- 

 weed is not a simple flower, but a collection of a great many flowers, 

 each of which produces a seed ; and, as a single plant bears a great 

 many heads, the number of seeds that a single individual is capable of 

 supplying in a season amounts to several hundreds. In weeds, evil should 

 be, emphatically, nipped in the hud. In this respect, the farmer should 

 act in the spirit of the Western savages who kiU the women and chil- 

 dren of their enemies, as a tolerably sure way of preventing the multi- 

 plication of warriors. Annual weeds are much more readily kept in 

 subjection than the perennial ones, which, especially those which multiply 

 extensively by their underground stems or roots, often become truly formid- 

 able. Here not only has the propagation by seeds to be prevented, but a 

 subterranean and hidden enemy has to be combatted. It is very impor- 

 tant that the agriculturist should understand the way in which these 



