Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1881-11-17

| PlS-~ecu, SOose-IOOC, Snepncrd'S purse, ana
lambs quarters, so troublesome in gardens
the chickweed, growing everywhere the
prinpernel, celandind and knawel; the
Iady's thumb and Mayweed the commen
hettIes and teazel; wild flax, stickseed, bur
weed, doorweed, all the muleins; the most
pestilent thistles, bot the common sort and
that which is enormously called the Canada
thistle; the SOW thistles the chess, corn
cookie, tares, bngloss or blue weed, and the
pigeon weed of the grain fields; the darnel,
yarrow, wild parsnip, ox-eye daisy, the
acrid buttercup, and the St. John's-wort of
the meadows; the nightshades, wild radish,
Wild mustard or eharlock, the hensbane-
aye, even the very dandeloin, plant which
we tread under foot at every turn. Others
still might be added to the list. which were
entirely unknown to the red man, having
been introduced by the European race, and
arenow checking up our waysides, forming
the vast throng of foreign weeds. Some of
these have come from a great dis tance,
travelling around the world. The shepherd )
purse, with others, is common in China, on
the most eastern coast of Asia. One kind
OF 'naloWs belongs to the East Indies; an
other to the coast Of the Mediterranean, The
gimson weed is an Abyssinian plant, and
the Nicandra came from Peru. 1t is sup
posed that the wood-wax or green weed,
So very common in the Eastern and Middle
States, have also been introduced, though
possibly from the more southern parts of
our own country. f8
Some few American plants have been
also carried to Europe, where they have
become naturalized but the number is very
small. The evening primrose, and the ailk
weed, among others, have sowed themselves
in England. France and Prussia, transport
ed, no doubt, with the tobacco, wheat. maise
and potato, which are now 50 widely dit
fused over the Eastern continent. to the
very heart of Asia. But even at home. on
our own soil, the amount OF native weeds is
small when compared with the throngs
brought from the Old World. The great
white convolvulus, the dodder, the field sor-
rel, the pokeweed, the silkweed, with one
or two plantains and thistles, the rarer
kinds. are among the most important of
those whose origin is clearly settled as be-
longing to this continent 1t is also singu-
lar that among those tribes which are OF a
divided nature, some being natives, ethers
being introduced, the last are generally the
most numerous for instance, the native
chickweeds and plantaina, and thistles are
less common in Michigan than the European
varieties. 4 -r4 dli, e1s3
There are other naturalized plants fre-
quent In neglected spots, about farm houses
and along roadsides, which have already be-
come so common as to be weeds the sini- |
pie and medicinal herbs, used for ages by
the good wives of England and Holland,
were early brought over, and have very gen
orally become naturalized -catnip, mint.
horehound, tansy, oalm, eomtrey, elecam-
pane, ETC., etc.,--immediately take root,
spreading far and wide whenever they are
allowed to grow. Itis surprising how soon
they become firmly established in a new set
tlement; we etten observe them in this new
country apart from any dwelling. In 1867,
while prospecting in what is now Lake
county, this State, we found catmiat and
balm twenty-five miles away from either
garden or house. The seeds of naturaized
plants seem. in many eases, to have Heated
across our lake upon the water; for we
saw, in 1867, in Manistee county, the Euro
oean mint and catnip growing with the blue
sentian Immediately ON the shore of Lake
Michigan, where. the woods spread around
n every direction for more than ten miles.
The word weed varies much with cireum-
tances at times we even apply it to the
beautiful flower or the useful herb. A plant
nay be weed, because it is nexious, or
etid, or unsightly, or troublesome, but is is
are indeed that all of these taalts are COM
lined In one individual Of the vegetable
ace. Often the unsightly, or fetid. or even
he poisonous plant, 10 useful, or it may be
Interesting for some popularity and, on
he other hand, many others, troublesome
rom their numbers, bear pleasing flewers,
AIKEN singly. Upon the whole, it is not so {
luch a natural defect which marks tha .