374 
Agricultural Weeds. 
seeding^, the quantity of seed may be worth something, even 
thoua^h the herbage be comparatively worthless. As regards 
dodder on flax, it will, in all cases, be found that the stem is 
stunted and the fibre impaired. 
One other parasite which remains to be noticed, though not 
commonly viewed as a weed, can yet claim no better distinction 
or treatment. We allude to the Viscum album (misseltoe.) 
This plant grows abundantly on apple-trees in cider counties, 
and opinions seem quite divided as to its injurious character ; 
yet, if we examine its mode of growth, and observe how puny and 
deformed the branch usually is above where the parasite has 
taken its hold, we may see that the vigour of the tree is impaired 
by the " sucking its verdure out on't." The discrepancy of 
opinion would seem to have arisen from the observed circum- 
stance that a young tree which has borne but little fruit before its 
evergreen patron became attached to it may become a good bearer 
afterwards, and even older trees often bear the better where the 
misseltoe flourishes. But this is as fallacious as the seeming 
prosperity of the spendthrift, who, happy in the presence of his 
flatterers, forgets that his present pleasures are sapping the foun- 
dation of his constitution, and that he is becoming prematurely old. 
So indeed is it with fruit-trees where the misseltoe takes root, 
their juices being appropriated to the growth of the parasite. 
The tree fruits for a time in virtue of arrested development, which 
must induce early senility, ending in early decay. 
On the Extirpation of Weeds. — The extirpation of weeds 
would appear in theory a much easier matter than in practice it 
is found to be, for the seeds of wild plants constituting weeds 
are so universally distributed, that, though they may differ 
in kind at different places, yet, wherever a crop will grow, 
there also will weeds flourish, if allowed. There would 
also appear to be species of weeds peculiar to certain crops, 
species which appear in one crop and not in another : the char- 
lock is a familiar example of this, as it will often make its 
appearance in great quantity after the breaking up of a pasture 
or old sainfoin ley, Mhere it had not been observed before 
for years. Evidence of this may also be obtained from the 
vast quantities of wild plants which spring up in woods after 
trees and underwood have been removed ; so quickly and so 
abundantly, indeed, as to convince us that their seeds must have 
lain dormant, only awaiting the required circumstances to vege- 
tate. Newly-formed earthworks frequently cause the sudden 
growth of wild plants which have never before been observed in 
the district. Hence, however careful we may be to destroy 
weeds in one crop, we shall assuredly have some fresh species 
