South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-06-23
Fecundity of Weed Plants.

FEW persons are aware of the astonlsh-
ing fecundity of most of the pernicious
weeds which infest our farms.
In some countries, where large landed
estates are held by single individuals, and
whose incomes are very large, the most
pains-taking investigations have been
made in order to learn what a single weed
plant is capable of doing in the way Of
propagating itself. We have before US
some of the results of these careful investi-
cations, and from which we learn that a
single coltsfoot produces from 1000 to 3D.
500 seeds! The wild mustard, 5000 seeds
from a single plant The chamomile, 40,
900; the Mayweed, $4,000; the burdock,
$4,000 the red poppy, $4,000; the wild
parsley, 5000.
All farmers have noticed the fine gossa-
mel which surrounds the thistle seed
which is borne up by the wind and carried
aloof like a tiny car. In this way, from a
single plant, 10000 seeds have floated away
on downy wings. Then there are weeds
whose seed pods burst open with a vios
lence, like the common garden balsam, so
as to scatter the seeds to a distance, where
they will propagate new plantations of
their kind. On the other hand, some
plants have seeds supplied with delicate
hooks to fasten in the soil; others, again,
propagate slyly under the earth, as the
crow garlic, which produces 700 otfshoots
ayear
The Irish Gazette states that the nod
ding poppy or cookie plant has lessened
the wheat crop in that country by at least
a tenth part of its value, and that " the
weeds of Ireland cost nearly SiT millions a
yearl"
In England experiments have been re-
Gently made to ascertain the influence
which weeds have upon the growing crop.
In one instance several acres were sowed;
one acre was measured and not a weed dis
turbed in it, the other six were carefully
weeded the unweededacr produced eight
teen bushels and the weeded acres averag-
ed twenty-five and a half bushels per acre.
In another instance the unweeded acre
produced thirteen bushels of barley, and
the weeded twenty-eight bushels. A third,
with oats, produced seventeen bushels,
and the weeded acre thirty seven bushels.
Any reform in this matter, to be worthy
of the name, will be futile until we can
purchase pure seeds with which to SOW
our fields. The fault in this particular is
sometimes with the farmer himself. He
foolishly desires to purchase cheap seeds
and finds some seedsmen Wiling 10 oDnge
him. Seeds are thus mixed often for pur-
poses of fraud.
In an examination made and reported to
the Croydon Farmers Cub, England, twas
found that as many as 100000 plantain
seeds were contained in a single bushel of
red clover.
In other experiments, in a bushel of rye
grass there were detected no less than
204, 800 weed seeds. In a bushel of clover
seed, 312 900; of linseed, 3O4,600; and all
this was irrespective of dirt and particles
of stone, which make cheap seed by far
the dearest.
Let US urge, then, again and again, upon
farmers, the importance of e~xtirpating the
weeds upon their own lands. 1t is useless
for one to keep his fields clean while his
neighbours fields are foul and constantly
resolving all the land within half a mile of
him.-N E. Farmer.