74 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
March. 
Cleaning Land of Weeds. 
To the Editors of the Country Gentleman— 
Having had some experience in the destruction of weeds 
on neglected land, I offer a few remarks for those who 
may feel interested on that important subject. 
Generally speaking, when land is let or bought at a 
low price, it acts as an inducement to the intending far¬ 
mer to take more land than his means will admit of 
to manage and cultivate well—the land gets poor, and 
produces weeds that are, in their nature, peculiarly 
suitable to that description of soils; and consequently 
in many instances, not to got rid of by the ordinary 
system of cultivation. When such is the case, the far¬ 
mer finds the land unproductive—in fact impoverished, 
and either sells or lets. Were he to carefully estimate 
the loss to himself and the public generally by neglect¬ 
ing this, one of the first and best principles of modern 
farming, possibly it might induce him to pay to that 
department the attention which it deserves. If the 
injury were confined to those who did not bestow or 
care to employ the labor for the extermination of weeds, 
it would be of little importance ; but unfortunately it 
is not; the weed seeds of a neglected field are carried 
far and wide by the wind, over many others, causing, 
by their much more rapid growth, a great deteriora¬ 
tion to the crops and land on which they may alight. 
There is an error into which many cultivators fall, 
that aggravates the evil; it is the collecting and sav¬ 
ing all weeds, after digging potatoes or other root crops, 
and carting them to a heap in a corner of the field to 
perish. Such practice would hold good, if they were 
annual weeds, previous to blooming; but when such 
collections are composed of perennial rooted weeds and 
others full of seeds, it is doubtless better economy to 
burn them, than run the risk of a fresh crop for the 
next season. It is a fact that perennial rooted weeds 
will retain their vitality for years in a heap. How 
often have I seen large mounds of them, after raising 
some starved root crop, containing among others, Couch 
grass, (Triticum repens,) Bindweed, (Convolvulus se- 
pium and arvensis.) Thistle, (Serratula arvensis,) 
Coltsfoot, (Tussilago farfara,) Horsetail, (Equisetum 
sylvaticum and arvense,)—plants useful in their way, 
but which ought not to be seen on any farm. Large 
quantities of them are used fresh as bedding for cattle, 
and then turned out and mixed with the dung-heaps. 
It is next to impossible to obtain a rent-paying crop, 
and in addition a profit to the farmer, while he suffers 
these weeds to grow year after year, with only an oc¬ 
casional check by the sparing use of the hoe. Such 
means will never clean the land, but will, to a certain¬ 
ty, ruin the farmer; indeed it may be accepted as a 
rule, that foul land is an infallible sign of a lack of 
skill and energy on the part of the owner. 
Now the plan of destroying weeds is very simple, if 
done as I direct, and which I have carried out with 
complete success on land that had been offered to seve¬ 
ral. rent free, for a term of three years—the land around 
of that nature, letting at £6 ($30) the acre—on con¬ 
dition of clearing it of the Tussilago farfara, which 
grew so rapid and in such abundance as to defy the 
labor of many years to eradicate. The labor in fact 
produced an unfavorable result; the weed produced 
and reproduced to that extent as to smother by its 
broad leaves any crop that might be sown. No person 
would accept the offer, so I took it; and well was I 
laughed at, for at best it was considered a fool’s bargain. 
I began operations early in April, 1858—that is I 
plowed shallow, and then sowed two tons of salt per 
acre —a heavy dose some will say ;. but I had tried it 
frequently before ; consequently it was no venture. I 
then harrowed it in and left it. In a week or two I 
plowed again, and again whenever the foliage covered 
the ground, which it did in a few days. Altogether I 
gave the land four plowings, and. then manured it for 
cabbages. These I planted in July ; they were fully 
grown, and all carted to market and sold in ten weeks 
after planting. Of course I used the horse-hoe as fre¬ 
quently as possible, to assist the crop and to destroy 
any weed that might come, but none appeared. Now 
my neighbors, who were so merry, wondered at its non- 
appearance ; their faces became elongated with sur¬ 
prise. Yet many predicted a fine show of bloom in 
March or April, 1857, for, said they, wait till then, and 
you will see that he has only killed the surface roots. 
Be it remembered this field has had a notorious cha¬ 
racter for more than fifty years, and was brought into 
its foul state only by saving the weeds of a field some 
distance off—mixing them with the stable dung, and 
then carting the precious compost to the land I now 
speak of. 
The last week of February, 1857, I planted the 
whole field with early potatoes, and they soon showed 
the drills to my satisfaction. I then applied 20 bush¬ 
els of lime per acre, to neutralize the salt, and then 
put in the horse-hoe, not so much to destroy the re¬ 
mains of the coltsfoot, for there was none, but merely 
to open the soil, as I found it became encrusted after 
every shower of rain. Then could be seen the briny 
efflorescence on the surface, looking very like a white 
frost. The potatoes I raised in July. The crop was 
good in quantity, but as must be expected poor in qua¬ 
lity. The field is now down in cabbages again. 
For my first crop of cabbages I realized £20 ($100) 
per acre. The potatoes will, if sold at the present 
market price, fetch £30 per acre, but as they are for 
seed they will bring more. My present crop of cabba¬ 
ges are fully equal to last year, and may fetch more, 
being later and the prices higher—say £25 per acre. 
Now my labor, manure, seed and plants, stand me in 
for the three crops per acre, £30, leaving a comforta¬ 
ble profit of £45, the land being of course rent free. 
As soon as my cabbages are out I inter:d to sow it 
with early peas in three feet drills, so that I may use 
the horse-hoe to advantage. Be it understood, no weed 
of any description has shown itself since July, 1856. 
I have dug down in various places to the depth of two 
eet, and cannot find a particle. 
In fact a good dressing of salt to begin with, plenty 
of stable dung, a judicious cropping, and a frequent 
use of the horse-hoe, will clean the land of the foulest 
weeds; care must be taken to use only root or green 
crops for a few years—never, under any circumstances 
sow it down to grass until the land is perfectly clean. 
After a heavy application of salt, it is necessary to 
wait three months at least, to allow it to be dissolved, 
and in some measure to be carried off by the spring 
rain. It is also requisite to plant the land with any of 
the following crops, which would be serviceable to the 
farmer, and can be transplanted with the certainty that 
they will increase more considerably in bulk than if 
left in the seed bed: cabbages of sorts, Swedish tur- 
I nips, kohl rabi and mangold wurzel, all these being in 
