WEEDS AND WEED SEEDLINGS. 



29 



over five millions to the acre). Of these seedlings 654 were buttercups, 

 107 annual meadow grass, sixty dock, twenty-six goosefoot, twenty-five 

 groundsel, fifteen shepherd's purse, fourteen annual sow thistle, ten 

 chickweed, eight Persicaria, five charlock, four creeping thistle, one 

 plantain, one clover, and 120 unidentified. In Koesmo's experiments, 

 however, vast numbers were found to a depth of 9*8 inches in the soil, 

 e.g. : — 



Fallow field — 8680 to the sq. yard, or 41 millions to the acre. 

 Spring grain field (4 years) — 28,210 to the sq. yard, or 136|- 

 millions to the acre. 



These figures are a sufficient indication of the enormous numbers of 

 seeds which must be produced by wild plants, and emphasize the need 

 for care in preventing seeding. 



All sorts of vacant and waste plots of land serve to act as weed- 

 distributing areas. Figure 2 shows a vacant building plot near 

 Surbiton, and from it a variety of pestilent weeds were distributing 

 their seeds into adjacent gardens. 



Of the uses of weeds little need be said, but they may act as green 

 manure when dug in, or when hoed and left to die on the surface 

 of the soil; they indirectly promote good tillage by enforcing various 

 types of cultivation, especially hoeing; they may prevent the washing 

 out of nitrates when the soil is unoccupied by a crop ; many of our 

 finest flowers and vegetables have been derived from wild forms, 

 and probably many others will be; many possess various uses — rushes 

 and sedges for mats and baskets, watercress as a salad, dandelion for 

 " wine " and *' tea " and as a salad; groundsel for cage birds; and 

 others possess varied qualities when employed in the preparation of 

 drugs. 



Weeds also often act as " Indicator " plants, giving some idea as 

 to the type of soil on which they grow. For instance: — 



Uses of Weeds. 



Spurrey. 



Corn Blue-bottle. 

 Corn Marigold. 

 Sheep Sorrel. 

 Poppy. 



Field Bindweed. 



Sandy Soils. 



Calcareous Soils. 

 Field Madder. 

 Scabious sp. 

 Viper's Bugloss. 

 Burnet. 

 Chicory. 

 Fumitory. 



Heavy Soils. 

 Corn Buttercup. 

 Coltsfoot. 

 Horsetail. 



Dyer's Green weed. 

 Best Harrow. 

 Perennial Sow Thistle, 



Damp Soils. 



Pushes and Sedges. 

 Silverweed. 

 Lady's Smock. 

 Horsetail. 

 Butter-Bur. 

 Meadow Sweet. 



