THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
313 
have been introduced in various ways in one or more 
localities in the country, and from thence spread over 
large sections; some slowly but surely; others with 
wonderful rapidity. Many have been brought into this 
country as garden plants, and, having become natural¬ 
ized, have found their way to the fields and roadsides ; 
as for instance the Prince’s Feather ( Polygonum orien¬ 
tate) ; Tansy (Tanacetum mil gave); Soapwort or Bounc¬ 
ing Bet ( Saponaria officinalis) ; Celandine (Chelidoniurn 
majus ); Wood-waxen (Genista tinctorial) ; Catnip (Nep- 
eta catara), the mints and many others; these, how¬ 
ever, are not very troublesome, as they confine 
themselves to small patches near old gardens, along 
fence rows and stone walls. The Ramstead or Butter 
and Eggs ( Linaria vulgaris) was introduced not far 
from Philadelphia, Pa., as a garden plant within 
the last century, and has now spread far and 
wide. 
The Wood-waxen or Dyer’s Green-weed ( Genista tinc- 
toria) has an interesting history. The seeds of this, as 
well as of the Barberry, were brought to Salem, Mass., 
for garden plants by the early colonists about the year 
1632. They found among the rocky hills and sandy 
roadsides a congenial home, and, like the colonists, 
pushed forward in all directions to make new settle¬ 
ments. Slowly the Barberry outstripped its more 
humble neighbor, and has extended from fifty to one 
hundred miles beyond its original home, with scattered 
plants here and there along walls and in copses, but its 
companion, while not moving as rapidly, has gone over 
the ground more thoroughly, and throughout the most 
of Essex county, within ten miles of Salem, the pastures 
and roadsides are a sheet of yellow when the Genista is 
in bloom. The progress of both of these plants can be 
easily traced, and illustrates the more rapid movements 
of other weeds which start from one or more local¬ 
ities. 
A prolific source of new weeds is the dumping grounds 
near large cities, especially on the sea coast, where bal¬ 
last from incoming vessels is deposited and city rubbish 
dumped. From this city refuse many garden plants, 
such as the Turnip, Squash, Tomato, Sunflower, Red 
Amaranth, and from canary seed, Canary Grass, come 
up as weeds, but are not permanent; but from the bal¬ 
last of vessels many new plants are brought from all 
quarters of the globe. Some remain only a year or two 
and then disappear ; others increase rapidly in a limited 
locality, and would, perhaps, become established were 
they not exterminated by new deposits, or, if a little 
tender, by an exceptionally hard frost; and here it is 
interesting to note that some of our most troublesome 
weeds have come from a much warmer climate than 
our'country affords. Some even from the tropics, and 
are so tender that the first hard frost destroys the plant 
entirely, but its seeds are unharmed and germinate so 
late they are not, injured by the frosts in spring, and 
perfec: their seed so quickly that there is no danger of 
extermination ; the Purslane ( Portulaca oleracea) and 
Carpet-Weed ( Mollugo verticillata) are examples. Other 
weeds from ballast gain a permanent foothold and 
spread very rapidly, in time becoming troublesome. It 
is generally, however, those weeds which have a ready 
means of seed distribution that spread so rapidly—well 
illustrated by the Burdock (Lappa officinalis), with its 
hooked seeds ; the Dandelion (Taraxicum Dens-leonis), 
with its delicate float; the Hound's Tongue (Cynoglos- 
sum officinale), with its sticking seeds—all foreigners, 
keeping close to the advances of settlers in their migra¬ 
tions westward. Purslane and Chickweed (Stellaria 
media) produce an innumerable number of seeds that 
germinate readily; it is claimed by a careful observer 
that there are from one to two million seeds produced 
by a single good-sized plant of the Purslane. 
Many and curious are the ways by which weed seeds 
are distributed. Some, having hooked, barbed or sticky 
seeds, attach themselves to the hair of animals, and are 
thus transported from one place to another ; many have 
attachments by which they are wafted by the winds 
from place to place; others are distributed in clover or 
grass seed, as was the case with the yellow cone Flower 
(Rudbeckia hirta). 
The Purslane came to us from Europe, though it prob¬ 
ably originated in the tropics ; the Chickweed and 
Whiteweed or Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) came 
from England ; the Bigweed Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) 
and Amaranths from Europe ; the Carpet-weed, a na¬ 
tive of the South, has crept far northward, and the 
cone Flower from the West is thoroughly established 
eastward ; the Thorn Apple or Devil’s Trumpet (Datura 
Stramonium) from Asia ; the Apple of Peru (Nicandra 
physaloides) from Peru, and a new weed from Chili, 
Galinsoga parviflora , with a nettle-like leaf and numer¬ 
ous small yellow flowers with white rays, is spreading 
rapidly, and is destined to become very troublesome, 
but as it is an annual it can be easily exterminated in 
the garden if not allowed to fill the ground with 
seed. 
Another new and still more annoying weed is the 
Convolvulus arvensis or Bindweed, the stems of which, 
with their arrow-shaped leaves, come up in innocent 
looking tufts and spread close to the ground ; its flow¬ 
ers are one inch in diameter, white with pink bars and 
shaped like the Morning Glory. It is so attractive it 
might be spared, but woe to him who allows it a year 
or two to spread. The great question then w ill be how 
to exterminate it. Cutting off the top seems to give it 
new life; the root is so delicate that it will break if 
slightly pulled, and every piece will make a new plant; 
but still the only way to get rid of it is to dig it out per¬ 
sistently until it is entirely gone. This remedy must be 
used upon other members of the same fdmily which are 
almost as troublesome—the climbing Bindweed (Calys- 
tegia Sepium), a native of our meadows, and the'double 
flowered Calystegia, planted occasionally for its pretty 
double pink flowers, without a knowledge of its weedy 
character. 
The Canada Thistle, another vexatious weed, has 
roots running so deep that they cannot easily be dug, 
and must be destroyed by keeping the green tops cut 
oil as often as they appear ; in time the roots will 
die out. 
All annual and biennial weeds can be kept down and 
exterminated practically, if they are cut before they go 
to seed ; some go to seed very early in their growth, and 
therefore must be destroyed early. All perennial weeds, 
like the Ox-Eye Daisies, Twitch-Grass, Burdock and 
Dandelion, should be dug out root and branch and carried 
off the grounds. 
One of the principal sources of weeds in well kept 
grounds is in the manure used, and care should be taken 
not to throw weeds that have gone to seed on the ma¬ 
nure heap. 
