106 
RURAL HOURS. 
spring up in the paths and beds so freely and so boldly, that it is 
the chief labor of the month to wage war upon their tribe. 
It is remarkable that these troublesome plants have come very 
generally from the Old World ; they do not belong here, but fol- 
lowing the steps of the white man, they have crossed the ocean 
with him. A very large proportion of the most common weeds 
in our fields and gardens, and about our buildings, are strangers 
to the soil. It will be easy to name a number of these : — such, 
for instance, as the dock and the burdock, found about every 
barn and outbuilding ; the common plaintains and mallows — reg- 
ular path-weeds ; the groundsel, purslane, pigweed, goose-foot, 
shepherd's-purse, and lamb's-quarters, so troublesome in gardens ; 
the chickweed growing everywhere ; the prinpernel, celandine, 
and knawel ; the lady's thumb and May-weed ; the common nettles 
and teazel ; wild flax, stickseed, burweed, doorweed ; all the mul- 
leins ; the most pestilent thistles, both the common sort and that 
which is erroneously called the Canada thistle ; the sow thistles ; 
the chess, corn-cockle, tares, bugloss, or blue-weed, and the pigeon- 
weed of the grain-fields ; the darnel, yarrow, wild parsnip, ox-eye 
daisy, the wild garlick, the acrid buttercup, and the acrid St. 
John's wort of the meadows ; the nightshades, Jerusalem arti- 
choke, wild radish, wild mustard, or charlock, the poison hemlock, 
the henbane, — ay, even the very dandelion,* a plant which we 
tread under foot at every turn. Others still might be added to 
the list, which were entirely unknown to the red man, having 
been introduced by the European race, and are now choking 
up all our way-sides, forming the vast tkrong of foreign weeds. 
Some of these have come from a great distance, travelling 
♦ Dr. Torrey. 
