The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-14

same CITY Is a vacant lot, which, for five
wears. has been given up almost exclusive
Nv 10 Canada thistle cnlcpEE, ara rag
weed This weed patch, when &ouIu pG
a disgrace even in the back HcldS OF d
careless farmer. is practically ali thaI can
he seen save the backs Of houses, from
the front windows Of the mansion I!Cse
nv in striking contrast Wttn thl= ne
elected lot is beautiful public park Win
cqrefulIv trimmed green lava and We'll
kent sfrubbery- These two extremes are
FCIt51d in close proximity in many Of our
large cities and from these must tIie CbIl-
Jren draw their daily lessons o. h>AttL- < II
one she is ugly and repeIIdht VIII IN. ltlis 60
and burs and IN the other she IS 100 Hile
to he touched In less valuable SEctl"I4S o.
the cities the children keep down weeds
on parts of vacant lots by their constant
tramping- So
weed matches may be places Of inter
est for the amateur botdnlst, VINO "a'chsS
the coming and going OF TIE diTer-ht Spt-
cies and notes the various &tIap-aLioIiS Oh
T,Iarts To CITY life but for the Eiaitnty
of CITY jewellers they ruin what little taste
NAV be left for the be4uttsul n n3L-irC
state weed laws are rendered lileLleG S - :
by the unchecked production OF weeds III
cities The Canada-thistIe law IN llIiIlolS
Is probably better enforced in the country
districts OF that state than are the weed
Laws in any other section OF the country,
and the thistle could De easily kept IN
control there were it not allowed 70 gro"
undIsturbed in Chicago ana otheT arg
ritias whence the seeds are carried DS
,-5n1 AID railway cars to TnTeST new areas
In many Of the smaller villages the state
weed laws are well enforced. or the WSetiS
are kept down because Of local pTide IN
T7aa+nsss without recourse to the Jaw,
but this is seldom true IN the larger
cities. - I'LL
f7-ct iutrod5Iced into cities and spread
from them to the farms. There are
dozen chances for the original lntrOduc-
ton OF weed in cities 20 one upon the
farm. Fiue-Icaved sneezeweed first ap-
r1-ared about cities in the South, and IS
now spreading to the grazing lands ana
cotton fields The Canada thistle in It's
rtrogress across the continent has Deen
dfsfribIlted by railways, first TO the cities
PrickIv lettuce has usually been first op-
served in cities and towns in its remark
91ly rand spread over the country me
Russian thistle indeed. WAS first intro
drred into the United States on a farm.
but being taken TO the cities, II now most
frequently spreads from them 10 the
farms. In many instances these nitro
Fuced SpecieS could have been easily de-
stroved upon their first appearance in
the cities and towns. anu millions of dol
lars damage to the farmers thus averted
a vacant let unused and given up to
the growth of weeds is of very little ben
eft to anyone, and Is, Furthermore a
source of danger if not Of certain injury
10 the community. The public welfare
demands that all elements dangerous to
life or health be removed IhlS would re-
quire the determination OF the Unison
weed. pOkeWeed, and other poisonous
plants Ii would also require the removal
Or destruction by fire af all masses Of
coarse weeds as soon as they stop grow-
ing These requirements are sometimes
secured by the regulations Of health Off
GERS
Something beyond mere sanitation
should be demanded, however A vacant
OF should be made to yield its highest
possible value in use to the people There
will then be greater incentive to keep II
rec from weeds. The vacancy CT lot,
ven though regarded as only temporary
,ondition, should not prevent it from be