106 
KURAL HOURS. 
spring 'jp 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 veiy 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 mstance, 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-pm-se, and lamb’s-quarters, so troublesome in gardens ; 
the duckweed 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, Avild parsnip, ox-eye 
daisy, the wild garlick, the acrid buttercup, and the acrid St. 
John’s wort of the meadoAvs; the nightshades, Jerusalem arti- 
choke, wild radish, Avild mustard, or charlock, the poison hemlock, 
the henbane, — ay, even the very dandelion,* a plant Avhich Ave 
tread under foot at every turn. Others still might be added to 
the list, which were entirely unknoAvn to the red man, haAnng 
been introduced by the Em'opean race, and are noAV choking 
up all our way-sides, fonning the vast tlirong of foreign Aveeds. 
Some of these have come from a great distance, travelling 
Dr. Torrey. 
