The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-12-15
A Nation Of Weed Growers.

A NatlOn OF Need GrOWers.
We are in danger of becoming a ma
ton of weed instead of grain growers.
Already more than three-fourths of all
the clover seed raised in the United
States is greatly damaged in market
value and is nearly worthless really,
by reason of the great numbers of weed
seeds; it is almost impossible to obtain
a sample of pure timothy or other
grass seeds. Scarcely pound of butter
is produced not more or less in iured by
the flavor of some weed found growing
in the pasture and eaten by the cows.
And yet our farmers plod right along.
They buy the newest and most improved
farm machinery and many times the
newest varieties of seeds, and yet know
ing how greatly the weeds are yearly
damaging their crops. they seem to
care very little for their presence and
make scarcely any effort to destroy
them.
Nor is this the worst feature of the
case; they raise the weeds and scatter
the seeds, thus keeping the careful,
tidy farmer (if there happen to be one
near) constantly watching and fighting
to keep his fields clean. Turned down
when in full growth, weeds may have
low manurial value, but allowed to ma
ture, dry up and blow away, they inn
poverish the soil nearly as much as
some useful crop. Few crops but are
more or less damaged in yield, and the
market value reduced, by the presence
of weeds, BY far the heaviest tax borne
49, 10 s., - &. 4
it is surprising how little effort is made
to restrain their greatly increasing
plentifulness year by year.
Take a look through Western New
York. The fence corners are filled with
thistles, golden-rod, burdock, teasel and
hosts of others, higher than the fences,
ripening millions of seeds to be waited
all over the cultivated fields. The stub
bic fields are covered with thistles and
ragweed thicker than the first crop. The
pastures, and in too many instances the
meadows, are white with daisy and wild
carrot. The heads of ripple or buck
thorn are far thicker than those of timo-
thy. Hundreds of acres of oats, barley,
spring wheat or flax are golden with the
mass of mustard or charlock blossoms,
and nearly half the product at threshing
time is this worthless seed. In spite OF
our laws, the roadsides are also covered
with these and other pernicious weeds
! in rankest growth.
The careful farmers whose fields are
not so overrun and whose fence lines
are not such presidential breeding,
places" are so rare that all we should
Ed -, Ill l,,,,- I.
numbered on the fingers of one hand.
and they should have their names
broadly written on their premises at
public expense so that all who pass
might do them homage. But Western
New York is no isolated case. | have
travelled quite largely, and in no place
have | seen more care used in keeping
out the weeds, or in cleaning out those
already introduced, than in Western
| New York. | have been many times
surprised at the extreme apathy, and
deeply concerned lest we become, as
| before said, nation of weed growers.
Many of the States have now quite
stringent laws, but none are so sweep
ing as they should be, and even those
which are in existence are not sufli-
GENTLY enforced. We need in every
town some officer whose especial duty
it shall be to go about and see that all
weeds both in the highway and fields
are cut sufficiently often to prevent
their seeding; we want attached to this
office so severe penalty for neglect OF
duty that there can be no failure. This
would be a great step in the right
direction, and it is fully time we, q,
farmers, demanded Ito enactment II
may be a good deal of expense to take
a farm already overrun with weeds anC
try to clean them oVt, but perseverance
will finally succeed, as l know by
actual experience, and on farm al
ready clean it is not near so much
trouble to keep them out as might be
supposed. N. Y. Tribune.