The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-04

approached in red clover until within the
last ten years.
Roadsides in the country are usually
lined with weeds, the seeds of which have
fallen from loads of hay and grain and
from the fur of animals. In some parts
of Northeastern oregon the sheep trails
are lined with red chess, the long barbed
awns of which cling to the wool. Many
plants new to New York have been in
troduced along the Erie canal. A large
proportion of the seeds doubtless came in
the hay and grain fed to the horses and
mules along the tow-path. The railroad
has superseded the canal In the Transport
tation of weed seeds as we'll as In that of
passengers and freight. Before the Ca
madam Pacific railway was completed the
tumbling mustard, previously unknown In
the northwest provinces, was found at
many points along the line. Many other
weeds have migrated westward along the
railway, some Of them almost keeping
pace with the work Of construction. Rail
way transportation offers many facilities
for the migration OF common weeds. In
the west, tumble-weeds are frequently
blown into the trucks Of cars and are car
rled long distances. There are records Of
two instances, one in North Dakota and
one in Minnesota, IN which grain cars
were wrecked, each case resulting In an
abundant introduction Of the Russian
thistle. This plant seems to be particu-
larry railway seed. IL has appeared first
along the railways In sixteen of the
twenty-one states and territories ~ which
II has been introduced. IN nearly all the
states where IL ~ now found It's wide dis
tribution has been effected chiefly by
railways.
Some weeds appear 10 thrive best on
soil that has been worn out by long cub
tVation. Examples are found In the OK
eye daisy and wild carrot. both Of which
were introduced on our Atlantic coast
more than century ago. They are slow
ly migrating westward, generally keeping
twenty-five years or more behind the adj
vance OF cultivation-that Is, they rarely
become abundant In locality that has
been settled less than twenty-five years.
The ox-eye daisy was introduced along
the shores Of the great lakes by the early
French missionaries
A study Of the origin Of weeds now in
this country impresses one with the large
ness OF the number that have been intro
duced from Europe In comparison with
the number Of native species or OF species
received from other directions. In a fair
~ complete list OF 300 weeds OF the United
States. i08 species are OF foreign origin.
while % are native. OF the i0s introduced
species, 60 are native In Europe and 20
are ascribed to the old world IN general
only two Asiatic species Ia the list having
established themselves as weeds In this
country without being FIRST distributed In
Europe. Africa and Australia are not
represented among our weeds, while Cen
trail and South America contributed only
twelve or fifteen imported species. most
OF which are confined 20 the Gulf states.
The general trend OF weed migration Is
westward. from Europe 10 America. from
the Atlantic states to the Mississippi val
Icy, and onward TO the Pacific slope. and
even across the Pacific ocean 10 Australia
and New Zealand. Less than half 4
dozen American species have become trou-
blefome IN Europe. Only three or four
spclcs from west Of the Mississippi river