The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1873-08-26
A Piece ON Weeds.

that they ought to keep their lands
cleaner from these intruders, Mr..
Harris proceeds, in the current num-
Der of the Agrieult'rist to perform that
duty as fullows:
1t amused me, however, 10 be told to
"write piece" for the AgrtculturiH on
killing weeds. Nothing would please
me better. / have weeds on the brain.
| think about weeds, talk about weeds,
and dream about weeds If l had to
write a piece" l would certainly select
weeds. III had to preach a sermon,
the text would probably be: Il went
by the field of the slothful,
and by the vineyard of the man void
of understanding; and 10 it was all
grown over with thorus, and nettles
had covered the face thereof" l think
the Squire would give up his pew, and
the Deacon would suggest the next
morning that "there was some dissatis-
faction in the church, and that it was
thought change of climate wonld be
good for me-" Write a piece about
weeds What was the old gentleman
thinking about? Does he want this
neighborhood to become too hot for NE :?
The Deacon has already threatened to
write a piece" for the Aqrieu!:wist,
pointing out the weak spots in my sys-
TEN OF farming. The deacon has been
talking the matter over with some Of
the neightors. Last fall l had two or
three hundred bushels OF msngles
frozen 10 the ground. This is TO be
one of the charges. They forget that !
saved three thousand bushels. Then l
had halt an acre of turnips frozen in
the ground. But ! saved four or five
acres that would yield eight or nine
hundred bushels per acre. The charge
in brief, is: "He knows how to raise
good crops, but does not know how to
take care of them" This is letting me
off pretty easy. ! could make out
better case. On the whole, think
| will follow the old gen,leman's ad-
vice, and write piece" about weeds
The weather is very hot, and "compos-
ing" is hard work, butt will Try my
hand at q short composition.
"A week is q plant growing where you
DO not want it 10 grow. Thistles are not
weeds when grown, as they are In
France, 10 make perfume The thistles
growing in the Deacon's wheat are
weeds. He does not want them there.
If you have six plants OF corn in hill
where you only want four, two OF them
are weeds. A dead weed is not weed.
A growing weed pumps up water out
OF the ground. The weeds in an acre
OF the Deacon's clover pump up more
water in day than all his animals
drink in q month. Weeds propagate
faster than rats. have got more rats
than the Deacon, but the Deacon beats
me on weeds. The boys shoot the rats.
Yesterday they shot two and scared
away dozen. Next year they will
come back again. The Deacon kills q
hundred OF his weeds and buries a
thousand Next spring they will come
up by the million. You cant get rid
of weeds unless you kill them. If you
don't kill them they will kill you
They are worse than ioot.rot in sheep.
They spread faster than csterpillars Oh
currant bushes, or than the canker'
worms on apple trees. Some Of the
orchards in this neighborhood look as
though they had been sprnkled over
with kerosene and set fire to. The
worms have eaten off every leaf Some
farmers keep off the insects by putting
tar bands around the trunks Of the
trees in spring; some don't. They
think it is no use killing the weeds
They say you can't kill them. The
Deacon does not sag weeds can't be
killed, but he does not try to kill them.
He hoes his corn, | don't hoe my
corn. ! hoe the weeds. / would kill
the weeds if there was no corn. / am
not shure that the Deacon would. The
Deacon never summer-fallow5. He
never fall.iallows. He never tries to
make the weeds grow. He tries to
smother them up for a few months. lie
does not kill the roots. He does not
make the weed seeds grow and then
kill the young plants. The weeds on
his farm are getting worse and worse.
NY farm used to be worse than his ;
now some OF it is cleaner. | am fight
ing the weeds. lie lets them grow and
is waiting for something 10 turn up.
There are thousands of farmers doing
the same thing. The weeds cost us
more that all our state, national and
local taxes more than all our schools,
churches and newspapers. They are
more expensive than childrens boots
and ladies bonnets. They are as bad
as cigars and fast horses The horse
may break his neck, and YOU will get
rid OF him but the weeds will stick
tighter than amortgage, and run uI
faster than compound interest or q
grocery bill. They are like bad habits
You must not tamper with them, Nc
halfway measures will answer. The
only way to stop using tobacco is &c
stop. The only to kill weeds is to kill
them"
| hope the old gentleman will he
pleased with my composition"
hope when he visits this neighborhood
again he will find fewer weeds. Land
worth $3.50 per acre ought to produce
something better that thistles, red-root
nuack-prqss and chess