The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming.Shaw, Ellen Eddy
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The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming.
Shaw, Ellen Eddy
Gardening -- Juvenile literature
"Even a question like weeds we have no right to look at from one point
of view only. The good points of weeds do not balance up the bad points;
but it is well to give even weeds their due. Rid the world of weeds and
unless these despoiled spots were cultivated, think of the great waste
places there would be over the earth's surface. The weeds shade the
ground thus preventing too great surface evaporation. Then the weeds are
a signal to farmers and all gardeners to get busy. We people of the
world are lazy, just naturally so, and perhaps if there were no weeds we
might cultivate the soil too little. Years ago certain weeds were much
used in medicine. This is more or less true, to-day. The dandelion with
its bitter secretion was good, it was believed, for the liver, a sort of
spring tonic. The Department of Agriculture has printed a pamphlet on
'Weeds Used in Medicine' (Farmers' Bulletin, No. 188). Jack and Jay each
sent for a copy last spring. You all might start a garden library with
these pamphlets for a basis. They are sent to you free and are
invaluable in your work. Get together all the helps you can on the
subject you are studying. Boys and girls receive free so much in the
present day that it seems a shame not to make use of these things. The
boys have written to the Department of Agriculture and each month it
sends to the club a list of the publications sent out or reprinted
during the previous month. You girls might follow this good example set
you by the boys.
"Well, we have wandered a bit from the subject in hand. Weeds are again
discouraging because they have such facilities for travel. Talk about
flying machines--weeds are centuries ahead of men along these lines.
Look at a milkweed seed; it is a complete flying apparatus. With its
perfect ballast it flies beautifully along over field and river ready to
alight in proper seed style, end down.
"There is a piece of mechanism in the end of each burdock seed that
seems to make travel possible, and dissemination sure. Never was fish
hook more cleverly made than this hook of the bur seed. It catches on to
your clothing and travels until you feel its pull. Then you pick it off
and cast it aside. So it goes. It sticks to the furry and hairy coats of
animals and again is carried along.
"Did you ever observe the seed of wild carrot? It, too, is arranged with
clinging points all around and about its seed. If you should give just a
little attention to the subject of the means of distribution of wild
seeds you would have a greater respect for the ways and means of Nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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