For copies of the following figures some time ago prepared by Mr.
Hillman, we are indebted to the authorities of the Agricultural College,
of Reno, Nevada: 7, 11, 12, 16, 17, 23, 24, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39,
40, 41, 42, 44, 46, 55, 56, 58, 63, 68, 69, 71, 74, 75, 84, 86, 87, 91,
92, 95, 97, 98, 99, 108, 110, 116, 125, 130, 135, 138, 140, 144, 146,
152, 153, 158, 159, 172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179, 181, 182, 185, 187,
189, 190, 191, 199, 203, 205, 212, 214, 215.
"A weed is any useless or troublesome plant."
"A plant out of place or growing where it is not wanted."
"Tobacco."
"A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."--Emerson.
Weeds everywhere; they thrive in the cornfield, they choke wheat in the
field, they annoy the gardner, they thrive in the meadow, they spring up
by the roadside, they encroach on the swamp, they damage the fleeces of
sheep. The rapid increase in the number and variety of weeds should
cause alarm.
DISADVANTAGES OF WEEDS.
1. They rob cultivated plants of nutriment.
2. They injure crops by crowding and shading.
3. They retard the work of harvesting grain by increasing the draft and
by extra wear of machinery. (Bindweed, thistles, red root.)
4. They retard the drying of grain and hay.
5. They increase the labor of threshing, and make cleaning of seed
difficult.
6. They damage the quality of flour, sometimes making it nearly
worthless. (Allium vineale L.)
7. Most of them are of little value as food for domestic animals.
8. Some weeds injure stock by means of barbed awns. (Squirrel tail
grass, wild oats, porcupine grass.)
9. Some of them injure wool and disfigure the tails of cattle, the manes
and tails of horses. (Burdock, cocklebur, houndstongue.)
10. A few make "Hair balls" in the stomachs of horses. (Rabbit-foot
clover, crimson clover.)
11. Some injure the quality of dairy products. (Leeks, wild onions.)
12. Penny cress, and probably others, when eaten by animals, injure the
taste of meat.
13. Poison hemlock, spotted cowbane and Jamestown weed are very
poisonous.
14. Many weeds interfere with a rotation of crops.
15. All weeds damage the appearance of a farm and render it less
valuable. (Quack-grass, Canada thistle, plantains.)
SOME SMALL BENEFITS.
1. They are of some use in the world to induce more frequent and more
thorough cultivation, which benefits crops.
2. The new arrival of a weed of first rank stimulates watchfulness.
(Russian thistle.)
3. In occupying the soil after a crop has been removed they prevent the
loss of fertility by shading the ground.
4. Weeds plowed under add some humus and fertility to the soil, though
in a very much less degree than clover or cow peas.
5. Some of them furnish food for birds in winter.
WHAT ENABLES A PLANT TO BECOME A WEED.
1. Sometimes by producing an enormous number of weeds. (A large plant of
purslane, 1,250,000 seeds; a patch of daisy fleabane, 3,000 to a square
inch.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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