Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1886-12-14
TAg c cour
PLANT NATURALIZATION.
Failure eg she waksrcress--T -Ths Thisals
IN Australia rae swoeabriar.

a Aunsrnlam--E swoaahraar.
Our failures in the acclimatixakion Of
vegetable life have almost always been
due to sentiment. The useful plants
and trees have. - . rule, Aourished ad-
mirably. For example. Mr.. ]. A.
Fr0ude states in his "Oceana" that the
oats. barley. peas. beans and potatoes
were produced in such Iuxuriance in
Ballarat that he could believe Herodo-
tua' account OF the crops grown on the
plains Of Babylon. A reaping machine
had stopped in field OF oats. the stems
Of which stood up like . wall, and
seemed as if no horse could force
passage through them. For seventeen
successive years the ground had been
cropped and not q particle Of manure
had been put upon it. The strangest
point about il was that there were no
weeds. and Mr. Fronde offers the rather
bold suggestion that "weeds ara said to
be product Of high civilization and do
not exist in nature.
Almost the only failure il useful plants
has been the watercress. introduced
some years ago into New leland, It has
spread as rapidly as did the American
weed" in our own country, choking up
the rivers and involving the annual out
lay Of many thousand pounds in keeping
the rivers sufficiently clear FOR navigable
purposes. Otago and Canterbury have
been severe sufferers from the water
cress. Sentiment. however, has always
been q deadly foe 70 the colonist: for
example, some thirty years ago Scotch
emigrant 10 Australia took with him q
thistle in flower pot. Great were the
rejoicings among the Scotch colonists, q
dinner was given in in honor of the ma
tional plant. and it was then carefully
transferred to the soil. Now it has
played the same part on land as the
watercress In the rivers, and has rem
dered whole tracts Of land useless. It
defies all attempts at extiTpation and
great sums OF money are paid yearly in
restraining the once welcomed plant
That the thistle would probably become
an injurious plant ought 70 have been
anticipated, and the very seeds should
have been prohibited as relentlessly a.
we prohibit the Colorado beetle.
But who would have thought that the
sweetbriar could do any harm? At
home we are only too glad TO have il In
our gardens. and sweetbriar hedge b
thing Of joy and an object Of justifiable
pride. No one, therefore, would blamed
the missionary and his wife who took
with them q plant OF eweetbriar as
fragrant memorial Of their garden in the
old country. But when set In the fresh
rich soil Of Australia that plant grew
with almost savage fury. It drove great
roots into the ground, developed itself
from shrub into tree, and spread
with such alarming rapidity that It is
quite as troublesome as the thistle.
Tasmania, which Is to the mainland
Of Australia what the Isle Of Wight Ii
to England. has suffered terribly from
the sweetbriar. New Zealand has Jared
no better. Dir. Fronde states that il ID .
woree foe to the sgricuIturist than the
native fern. ~At home 50 chary OF
growth, it expands here into vast
bushes, becomes q weed and spreads
ike weed. It overruns whole fields in
two or three seasons, viii turn q cleared
farm into an impenetrable thiclket, and
has to be torn out with cart ropes and
teams Of horses. The reason for this
astonishing growth Of the thistle and
swectbriar is the same as that which nc
counts for the fecundity og tbs rabbit
and sparrow. The rich and fertile soil
affords the plants abundance Of food,
and the native dorh il 80 feeble that the
sturdy intruders have no rivals to check
their progress. I.ongman's Magazine.