New Britain herald., 1914-08-14
HOUSEWIVES MAY. USE WEEDS ON TABLE
There are Ten Kinds Which Will
 Suffice for Food.

Chicago Aug. 14.-As a remedy for the soaring prices of foodstuffs, Mrs. w. K. Jaques of 4316 Greenwood avenue urges housewives to use weeds on their tables.
 There are ten weeds. all edible, that can be used for food," Mrs. Jaques said last night. These arc the dock, nettle, sorrel, purslane, milkweed dandelion, pigweed, lambs quarter, marsh marigold, and brake fern. They make excellent greens and are nourishing. Purslane, com monly called 'pussly,' which stands for the original sin to most people, is edible. Chinese are fond of it, and it is found in we'll cultivated gar dens. Purslane will not grow any place else, and it can't stand compe- tition.
 This Is Planting Time.
 "As this is planting time for the weeds, when the seeds are ripening and blossoming, and each weed is trying to get seeds in the ground for next year, people should decide whether or not these aggressive plants are to decorate the vacant lots over the city. Improvement associa- tions make the mistake of attacking weeds just because they are weeds. They sometimes forget that these plants can be utilized for their beauty. On one vacant lot wild car- rot grew riotously. Although wild carrot is a weed, which is called Queen Anne's lace, 1t made lovely spot of the vacant lot with its pretty white blossoms. The neighbors en- joyed the white weeds across the way, but one day man from the inn provement association came to mow them down.
 'Ma'am, them's weeds he said when the neighbor protested.
 Clover Will Sweeten Room. .
 Small vacant lots of sweet clover are ruthlessly destroyed. A bunch of the clover will sweeten a whole room. Besides, clover is beautiful, even when dried, and should be al- lowed to grow. I may be scatter ing heresy by reciting the charms of weeds, but weeds need only control. They are most aggressive. but are not to be despised either as food or as objects of beauty in form.
 "A jimson weed is ranked as the worst sort, but in a private garden at Forty-seventh street in Kenwood this weed grows trfumphantly, the most beautiful trumpet plant in the garden. Mullein is another weed most stately In England it is called the velvet plant because the leaves are as thick as plush and there it occupies a place of honor with the flowers. It all de- bends upon the point of view
 Weeds Follow Man.
 Weeds, like vermin, are imported in civilization and never grow wild. They are the most human of plants and are the most domestic and ia. miliar. They are never discouraged and always die game. When they cannot have the best they take what they can get. As John Burroughs says, if the weed cannot lord it over corn hill it will sit at the foot and take what comes. The weeds are the tramps of the vegetable world and, like tramps, they follow the highways. Catnip, wild mustard, tansy, and moneywort are found about old home steads, but they can hardly be coaxed to grow about palace.
 Weeds are the most intelligent of plants. They have had to fight such hard battles to keep their ground and be saved from destruction that they have all kinds of ways to get them solved carted about.
 Plenty to Eat.
 "They have. developed hooks to catch onto peoples clothes, like the sand burs, the cookies, stick tights and Spanish needles. They have ways t. perpetuate themselves and no one need be alarmed at their vanishing by use on the table for food. There are ten weeds in every garden fighting one strawberry plant for the suprem- acy. They are standpatters in battle and bravely resist the foe, which is usually a farmer with a scythe"
 At her farm. "The Terrace" near South Haven, Mrs. Jaques encour- ages all the weeds to grow. She has made 8. study of each weeds utility and beauty through many months of watchfulness She champions the cause of the weeds for their economic value to the poor and the many de- signs they offer to the artist for sketches, she said. But most of all for food.