The Democratic advocate., 1909-07-23
PAYS TO RAISE WEEDS.
These ~Plants Out Of Place" Have q
Fixed Market Value.

Money in weeds7 To be sure. The
national department OF agriculture
has been for many years telling the
farmers OF the large money value go
Ing to waste each year In this country
In the shape OF pernicious weeds and
has been Issuing bulletins with d.
rectlona for collecting. curing and
selling the weeds. A quarter of O
century ngo DIR. George u. LorinR. tho
commissioner Of agriculture, called
attention 10 the fact that IN Germany
many OF the commoneat and most per-
niciouH weeds that the American farm
er has 70 contend with were success.
fully and probably cultivated. Bur
dock, dandeiion, witch graHa. fox
glove, MULLEN. horehound. ilmaon.
mustard and water hemlock arc
among our commonest weeds and
grow In great profusion almost every
whore In the United States. Ordinar-
lily they are regarded merely ~
troublesome weeds. The trouble. of
course. is In the lazy habit of attempt
ing 10 grow weeds and cultivated
crops on the same land nj the same
time. So II often happens that the
witch grass between the potato rows
ia more valuable than the tubera In
the hills When you raise weeds you
must make business of t.
Land that will raise nothing else
will raise weeds. The llnson grows
In rank profuaion about the feed
lot, the front yard IL yellow with dan
delion flowers. and the flowers OF the
mullen bedeek the pastures. The bur
dock grows In the roadside fence
corners. and the waste lot produces
an abundance of witch grass and com
frey, yot majority Of the drug weeds
used in medicine In this country are
still imported and paid for at n high
rate
Without counting wormwood. tansy
and rhubarb. all Of which are weeds
In favored places, and without in
cluding cAtnip or penuyroyal or any
OF the mints. the American people
are paying out more than 100000 9
year In hard earned money for I'm
ported weeds which are growing wild
In nearly every part Of the country
The knowledge that there Is money
In the very common and much de-
spised weeds In spreading every year,
and very considerable industry In
medicinal weeds has arisen. but Il IL
for short OF what II should be The
average farmer cannot bring himself
10 regard as other than a haresy the
declaration that weed Is simply
useful plant out of place.
The price paid by big jobbing drug
houses for leaves. flowers or roots OF
the commoner weeds which afflict the
farmer with their presence when be
lsts them get out OF place are as fol-
lows: Dandelion roots. dried. jimson
weed. leaves and seeds. poison hem
lock, freshly plucked. and dried fow-
ers and leaves and dried and cleaned
seed Of black and white mustard, s
cents pound: burdock root, sliced
and dried, cents a pound; dried
leaves and blossoms OF horehound
and wild foxslove, 6 10 Z cents a
pound; dried blossoms OF the tall pas
ture MULLEN. 50 cents a pound II
sealed In tight jars. In addition TO
the above standard drugs the dried
leaves Of pokeweed and trillium. gold
thread and jack-in-the-pulpit are
marketed. as well as the leaves and
flowers OF tansy, iobelia, boneset. cat
nip and dozen other very common
plants, all Of which are In demand At
the market price.