Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1872-11-15
THE WEEDS OF VERMONT.

A Paper read Before the Vermont board Of
Agriculture Rt Its Meeting I'm Newport,
August =, 1879, by c. G. PringIe, Esq., OF
Charlotte.
(ConclUded.)
The roots Of plants perform two-fod office,
that of q collector of food and of conser-
vator Of food. At the time Of which we are
speaking it has nearly accomplished its sum-
mer's work OF seeking food in the soil, and is
about to receive back from the leaves the
stores of assimilated food to hold in safe
keeping for ready use upon the return of
spring. To sever at this time the top and
the root is to leave the root full and leaves
empty. II it survives the winter it will
make but slender growth the succeeding
season, aud will now readily yield to a Sec
ond moving
Habitual care should be exercised respect.
ing the seeds of weeds. They are under our
control when the waste places Of our farms
are cleared up. The rubbish which con-
tains them should be carefully gathered,
dried aud burned. Such is not fit material
for the compost-heap or the barnyard
whence the seeds 1t contains will surely be
scattered wide again. They come into our
possession with the screenings of the sepa-
rator at thrashing time. Sending those
screenings to the grist mill because they con-
tain little grain is very mistaken economy
They are full of seeds which the milestone
will not crush, and which if fed to stock will
eventually be deposited in seed beds of well
manured and mellow soil. Raise a smoke
with all such vile stuff you can get hold Of.
And the seed grain we SOW should be exam
ined with care. With the abundance of
good seed, and Of grain separators perfect 10
their operation, there need be no necessity
for sowing vexation and loss.
There is class Of plants, and most of
them are perennials difficult to eradicate,
against whose approach the farmer is help.
lessly unable to shield himself. Every
breath Of wind which passes over the titled
fields in their seed time drops upon the soil
their germs. Such are the thistles, the as.
ters, the golden rods, the dandelion, &c
But bad as they are, there is a little com.
pcnsation in weeds. We have seen how they
serve as green manure to be powed under
on summer fallows. Their destruction is the
imperative necessity which compes us to
stir the soil of our hoed crops as often a:
the welfare of the plants requires. Were
this necessity removed would we always dc
it Some very conservative farmers, (they
are not "book farmers" they would have you
know,) believe that weeds are useful il
shading the ground. Shade of pumps Ev
cry plant is pump. sucking moisture from
the depths of the soil, to supply the place o
that which it gives out from its leaves
Did you ever turn over heavy growth o
clover late in the spring2 What sue
culent mass Of verdure above How dry
the earth below Did you ever sec how
cool and green during a summer drough
will be the outer row of corn which stand
next plot kept in clean cultivation with
out crop, while the leaves of the inne
rows, shaded though the soil be, will b,
rolled up by the heat. have seen it,
And weeds are worth fve cents a bushe
on my ground. The correctness of this quo
tation will appear in this way; appl,
twenty bushels Of them as a mulch abou
fruit trees standing in grass Il have a few
such that are planted in situations wher,
: cultivation is impracticable) spreading it
foot deep for some distance around the tree
The tree may now be worth three dollars
5 Two years hence it will be worth five dol
! lars, one Of which may safely be attribute,
to the mulch, keeping the ground moist, rot
, ting, and washing down as choice food 70
) the roots But | don't want to grow weed
y at that price. 1t is with weeds as with al
a difficulties Of human experience,-t easi
est way to get along with them is to fac
Q them with courage and struggle against ther
q majestically and hopefully. If we canno
q exterminate them entirely, we may kee
G them under subjection, aud good husbandr
; demands nothing short of this.
h Canada Thistle.
Chief in the odium of farmers has Ion
J, been placed the Canada thistle, though al
a other weed now disputes with it for its ev
5 fame. The thistle spreading its downy par
It pus to the wind, laughs at the pains of tn
i farmer to keep clear of it. From negecte
It fence-row or roadside, from fields of graf
0 ready for the reaper, from hillside pasture
from fen and from moor it starts up on 4
!. balloon fight to seek fresh fields for colonil
! ing enterprise. As surely as we take up
d piece Of ground for the plOw, 50 surely wi
d thistles spring up in it, and with averag
/. cultivation they will not disappear until Ii
h field has been seeded to grass aud mown tw
o or three years. The strength Of the thist
b is in its creeping roOt-stalk. Turning an