26 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



WEEDS AND WEED SEEDLINGS.'^ 



By H. C. Long, B.Sc. (Edin.) 



[Read January 17, 1910.] 



Oh ! Life is too short for briars 

 And thistles to grow in the way, 

 Let U3 crowd the path with roses, — 

 . * * ^ * * » 



Anon. 



The aim of the gardener is to " crowd the path with roses," 

 to provide a plentiful supply of beautiful flowers and useful fruit 

 and vegetables, and with this object in view he finds it necessary to 

 eradicate the briars and thistles and other weeds that " grow in the 

 way " — too often a by no means easy task. In order to ensure the 

 destruction of weeds accurate knowledge of the principles underlying 

 the growth of crops is essential, for wherever a particular weed is 

 plentiful there is some reason for it. 



Weeds are being more fully studied than formerly in almost all 

 countries, and considerable attention is being given to the question of 

 their eradication and prevention, and to the provision of a pure seed 

 supply, and it is well that these matters should not be neglected in 

 Great Britain. 



From the horticultural point of view weeds are perhaps less trouble- 

 some than on the farm, for spaces are smaller, labour is more plenti- 

 fully bestowed, and cultivation is more intense, but still they are 

 troublesome, and just as garden plants need to be studied if they 

 are to be successfully cultivated, so weeds need some study if they are 

 to be successfully combated. 



That weeds are abundant needs little showing perhaps, but it may 

 be mentioned that in August 1909 the writer found twenty-nine 

 species within a small portion of a field of standing wheat, and no fewer 

 than seventeen of them were abundant, and nearly all among the worst 

 weed pests of the farm. 



Those wild plants, which are commonly denoted weeds, are not the 

 only weeds, for every gardener knows that many cultivated species 

 may easily become too numerous and cause trouble by appearing too 

 freely where they are not wanted. Such flowers as Shirley poppies, 

 larkspurs, Canterbury bells, and others may all be tl^oublesome at times 

 where they have been allowed to distribute seed, while we have 

 unhappily experienced the weedy character of Jerusalem artichokes 



* The writer is much indebted to Miss Bertha Reid for the preparation of 

 the drawings of weed-seedKngs. The remaining figm'es are reproduced from 

 Common Weeds of the Farm and Garden, by permission of Messrs. Smith, 

 Elder & Co. 



