1887
4
CLEAN SEEDING.
. . : y. ' -': rv'v .- . -. -..J
In all employments it is expected
I that the workman shall not only be
l . . .-i t;..:. J
expert in me manipulation ui mo am,
but shall be, well acquainted 1 with the
nature of his material. ' I can perceive,
no good reasons why.. it is not equally,
incumbent on a practical farmer, to,
understand the true character of those',
plants which it is his especial interest
to cultivate or. exterminate.. If our;
f boys, while in school were required tbj
make themselves acquainted with that
portion of the vegetable kingd om
, which ' annually ; demands : their- atten-;
tion on the farm, the prof ession would
speedily assume a new and engaging
aspect. The labors of the field wquld;
UO Oieilueu Willi uuseboeuib uutciiipioi-;
tions of facts of the deepest interest to
inquiring minds and agriculture, in
stead of being shunned as an irksome
"drudgery, would be justly esteemed as
one of the noblest employments of a
free and .intellectual people.
. The term weed, is applied to , those
intrusive and unwelcome 'plants that
persist in growing where they are not
wanted, or a "plant out of place:"
Many of the troublesome weeds found
on our premises are emigrants from
other 'portions " of the world. The
number of plants indiginous to our
section that are entitled to rank as
pernicious weeds is . comparatively!
small. As the original savage disap
pear with the advance, of the whites,;
so do the native plants generally yield
their possession as cultivation extends.'
The majority ; of noxious weeds
found among us are naturalized;
strangers, that appear to be quite at
home, and are with difficulty to be!
persuaded or driven away.
The labors of the farmer are a con-!
stant struggle. On the one i hand, tfy
presenting the most favorable con-i
ditions possible, he endeavors to make
certain plants grow and produce to
their utmost capacity. And on the
other to prevent the growth" of certain
smother plants that are ready to avail
themselves of these favorable con
ditions. The farmer is deeply inter-)
lested in two points concerning weeds.;
First how. they get into his ground ;
and second how to get them out.
Cultivation can be the more profitably
carried' on if the husbandman knows
something of the nature of the plants
he wishes to raise. If he would suc
cessfully operate in the other direction
and stop those hurtful plants from
growing, he can do so much better if
he knows what are the peculiar habits,
of the individual with which he has to
contend. It is an essential to be
familiar with the manner of growth.
and mode of propagation of a weed as
it is witn a usetui plant, xne plant
that spreads itself entirely seed must
be differently treated from one that!
multiplies by the root also, , whether
we would propagate or destroy.' We
should bear, in mind that while' we;
enrich our soil, we are fitting it for
tares as well as for useful grain, 'and
that thorough culture and good farm
ing ensures a sort of general exemp-j
uon irom ine pestilence oi weeus, ana
renders easy, the subjugation of those
which make their way into our grounds.
If the ground be not occupied with!
something good, there will be plenty-
of f the bad to take its place. Idle
ness is the mother of vice " in this as!
well as in morals. Possession is an
advantage in other matters as s well as
' law-'-A- plant when' fully established
is not disposed to yield without a
struggle,1 and the worst ones are gen
erally tenacious of life. ": 1
Some one has said that all the plants
of a given place are in a state of war
in relation to each other." The largest
ones smother the smallest ones ; the
longest 'lived ones supercede ? those of
shorter duration ; and the most fruit
ful gradually take possession of the
space which would otherwise f have
been occupied by those which multiply-
more slowly. The husbandman,
therefore, should avail himself of this
principle, and aid the more valualle
plants in their struggle to choke down
and expel the worthless.
I once heard a learned . gentleman
advance the theory, t that God at the
beginning" or ; immediately after ; the
transgression caused . weeds to spon
taneously spring up in all places pos
sible for them to grow or in other
words you'might go into the depths of
the forest wilds and clean off the trees
'and cultivate the ground and crab
grass ; and; other ; weeds would -come
without seed being carried there.? This
.is contrary to the Bible as well as cor
rect reason. -Those- pernicious weeds
and grass are introduced in a number
of ways. Many have their seed sown
with those of the crop 'this is particu
larly the case. where theseedstoiw'eecl8
and of the grain are" so 'nearly 'of'ttid
same size that their separation is diffii
cult.' J Proper care in 'procuring 'and
pfreseVting cleanV&eed - tvillbf ten save,
mucin -future ' nftftbble 'land 'texation;
The : i observing I man will" notice ' the
means which nature" haV provided for
the i scattering ;bf X seed and he " will
find that the most pernicious seem to
have "been ' especially f urriished with
contrivances to "facilitate their disper
sion: j The burdock beggar lice; and
others have barbs ois hooks by which
they adhere to clothing 5 and the coats
of animals, and are widely distributed ,
even in the forest by-this agency. All
the thistle : family iand- many others
have a tuft' of fine silky hair attached
to the seed, by which th'ey are buoyed
upon the air and carried 'from place to
place j and are generally deposited in
protected localities 'by the i waves of
the , atmosphere to the i leaward of
fences and other objects. So 'numer
ous are ' the ways ' by which eed are
dispersed ; that, 5 however careful' a
farmer may be upon his ownpremises,
asloven and neglectful neighbor, "may
cause him'; infinite ' annoyance riJby
furnishing;: his lands' an abundant
supply.' In some countries ? a farmer j
may sue his 'neighbor f or neglecting
tp destroy the noxious weeds' up6n his
lands or he may employ it done at
the delinquents Expense. 'Weeds that
ve'fbeen cutTori pulled after they
ihave blpomed should not be thrown
in the barn I6t or manure heap, unless
you wish' ta have the work to do over
again with their progeny, " as the seeds
will be thoroughly distributed in the
manuring of ' the land.' - The better
policy would be to burn them, or do
stroy. -them' before they bloom. In
weeds, as well as in the 'government
fof children,; evil should ib& nipped in
the bud. - In ; this respect ' the farmer
should act in the spirit of the western
savage who kill the - women and chil
dren: of their enemies as a sure way of
preventing the multiplication' of 'warriors.-
:: One pf the most troublesome classes
of faith is that which seed -at root and
top as. the garlic, dock, &cJ Here not
only has ; the i propagation by seeds to
be. prevented; but a subterranean and
hidden enemy has to be ombatted.
It is very, important that the farmer
should: understand the way in which
these plants ; grow, ' that he may know
how ;to direct his' efforts to1 subdue
them. 1
: Perennial weeds are easily destroyed
during the stages of 'their existence ;
but later in the season they form strong
roots in the ground which have great
tenacity of life; ' and ' which have in
them an accumulation of nourishment
which enable them to throw up! several
successive crops of herbage. Plowing
such weed generally aggravate the
trouble; for unless every fragment be
removed from the r ground--a thing
very difficult ' to accomplish each
piece' that -is left makes a' separate
plairt: 'HJX ;caW;of-weed of - this
description, the necessity or early
eraaictirij them'; is. aj)pareni, tor if
once ? $rell 1 established; -and Man under
rouhdproyisioh dejpot;iforine,d,r the
husbandman and the plant' are placed
in the condition of besieging and
besieged 'forcedas 1 lorig f as ' the( pro
vision holds but the latter can main
tain its ground u The : tiller 1 : will do
well to keep in mind . two rules. Do
not let weeds Mooni, and dd nbt let them
hkezthe, ioT the ; leaves m'abe 'consid
ered 'the lungs of the plant," and with
out the aid of these it cannot long
maintain itself. 1 ' 11 ? i ,
It don't require an ! unusual amount
of : gumption for 'a person to- know,
that to , have good and wholesome
bread," nis grain must be clean ' of
filth - a thing we all most heartily de
sire. ' .To accomplish it, . like repelling
an armed foe, requiresthe united effort
of 'all; ebneerued. ,; It could Ve .done in
a comparatively 'short time, if 'all who
cultrvate? f armsr would ' manjfully unite
iri;e??eflbi.'fvWi or' ten; years of
perskteht; effort of all hinds :f would
obliterate' it from7 liny section.3 It can
only be partially done as long as part
neglect-it lj Mth is 3read insuch a
multiplicity '6 ; ? wiys 'that 1 if a few
clean their fields UiU gradually, find
itsway backin;sbme of' the vrays!" al
reMy;, 'lioticcompulsory laW
that would compel each person to
glean his, lands of Hhese" obnoxious
cumberers, would be a wholesome one,
and as just as f o slaughter a drover's
cattle infected with pleuro-pneumbhia,
to prevent the spread of the disease or
to quarantine a vessel for the same
purpose; ''W? mciPXt:.
among the1 small : grains and matures
at the same time they do and knbwn
dyi. 'Id appearance it k so Very differ
ent'fronl the grainit infestlthat it can
b6 'Easily '"distiriguished 'nd taken but
of ,the grain. It waves it3f:ol6W.
origin, -andbelongrto' the tink fam-
triumphantly over harvest "fields at
blooming time. This renders -it so
conspicuous, that nothing ' butfeheer
neglect (a species of ;S laziness) will
suffer' it to remaih till' harvest Jtime.
Its rough, black seeds when abundant
among wheat, are injurious "to the
quality and appearance of theirnanu-'
factured flour ; and the miller who
seeks a reputation ' for - making good
fibur, and: don't despise'1 cockle is an
ahomily that would be a' conspicuous
figure in a variety show.' ,
There is another class," a native of
the same country, and known as spelt
or1 Georgia 'cheat. ,! It ' is,! thf ' mok
difficult of all, the "tares to.1 get' rid ;: of.
It is so' near the size arid heft of whe?it,
and in appearance,. while growing, yo
nearly like the grain, that iVs-nexttO;
impossible to winnow it ,at. maturity or
pluck", it while' growing. ThV ohly
way Ihat I can conceive togeijHd of
it is to ; pick, it with the ' mjige'ts from!
the seed grain. 1 It is of a glue tex
ture and clogs the bbulting cloth while
grindirigl ' " It is unpalatable" to stock.1
They, refuse, to browse upon itcoiiye
quently it will flpurish in Jpasttrre laridk?
' Close akin to, k? last; nam,is';a'n-j
ot Jier .of the grass f sitnilf knowri 1 as,
chess or' cheat.' It g lighter thah;
wheat and( can, most of it, ' be blown
out with a fan mill. Its' ' stein arid
blades while growing have a fuziry ap
pearance, arid by; close 'observation can
be distinguislied ahd'jpulledj6ul!' from
he ' grain.' ' Its 1 name' is' ' significant,'
and he who suffers it to grow around
him will find himself cheated in tlie
end, as it is extremely prolific and
neither beast or fowl will partake of it,
if they can find anything else to sub
sist upon. , ;:!;4; ;
Among the curious and vulgar Er
rors that infest the minds of credulous
and careless observers," may be ment
tioned the belief of a few farmers, and
some of them good practical ones, that
this troublesome grass is nothing mdre
than an accidental variety or casual
f orm of degenerate wheat, "produced by
some untoward condition or unpropi
tious season, or ' some " organic injury,
though it must be admitted, I'think
by the most inveterate' defenders1 of
this faith, that in undergoing' the
change, the plant is surprisingly " uni-'
form in its vagaries in' always assum
ing the exact structure and ch&r&cter
of cheat. .:pu :
We have a confederate in this con-
r
troversy on transmutation, one Moses,
the great Jewish legislator, and tEe
first of the Old Testament writes. He
was a prophet of the Most High, and
supernaturally guided and, aided in his
writings. He lived forty ' years in
Egypt the great wheat country of tue
East and forty years in Miclian wifc
J ethro among the herds, and was
familiar, no doubt, with all the grasses :;
and forty years in the "Wilderness:
where he saw many other things ! be
sides serpents. His testimony is, after
describing the creation of the earth,
the firmament, the water and.the light
(these are the essentials of plant life)
and giving them their r bounds . that
the herb should lyield- seed after -.its
kind ,whose seed is, in itself." Not in
or capable of being transferred to an
other. An herb is a: plant that dies to
the root every year. .If one herb . can
change to any other they all .may.1
Therefore our crop would be -exeeed
inglyprecarious. Taking into consid-;
eration this r view of the matter . we
might possibly sow tares ? and reap
good grain, or vice versa, v The enemy
that came while the husbandman ;,was
asleep and sowed tares among the clean
grain might have benefited. instead of
damageing the man, if the season, &c.,
were propituous. If wheat will change
to cheat under a certain condition,
why does it not, by changing the con
ditions turn to wheat again; or why
not transform to some other herb as
well as cheat. Cheat,' as the name im
plies, is next to worthless. Can we
dare we--accuse Got of cheating us tiy
changing the staff of life to something
worthless, by means that we ' cannot
avert, when we have done our. part by
producingit with our toil anii sweat.
Such is closely allied to infidelity. We
ought to be cautious how; we advocate
suchtheories befdre the young fqr fear
of shaking their faith in the goodness
of God. v The advocates of transmuta
tion, in this Bible reading land, ought
to be placed amorig.the fallacious isms,
and go, like Millerism1 to ' the under
taker in infancy.
; There are many grasses and weeds
whose .fruity mature "at te,tim$ the
cultivated crops do, arid becom , An
gled with them to the detriment of
these crops. But few of them are in
digenous.. The 17 greater ; portion ; of
them are of foreign' origin. t-Al few bf
them are bulbous arid seed' producers
also, and multiply both n and above
ground. ? Such;is garlic brtwiM onion
above named; 1 6 It is 1 ' of ; European
origin and 'was mtroduced'by the first
Welsh emigrants :fdrJ the 'purpose of
supplying an early1, pasture-i, This we
could wUlingly foreg'6 inlorder to get
rid of the' dnidns. !"hOw com
pletely naturalized arid -will; stay - with
na rinless' we are vigilant ; in - our en-
'deavors to "get rid of it, and the sooner
tne oeuer as n win gvriuiuaw xx
laviner twelve' months on W dry plank.
Like tKe'skunk, its offence ' comes 'of
lis cuor aiiu. is iitsiiig. j-"
when! grazed Upon, into rmilk; butter,
cheese,' beef and' pork- 1 and renders
them repugnant even to the" most in
Wterate onion eater1. T Its' effects '- nbt
Only reduces - the articles, but abso-
luteiy renaers inein unsaiauio m iu.v
leading -markets at' any price, and if
the cow had the second lick at them
like the .milk drinker 'she would, no
doubt,1 loath inem too. 1 Thorough cul
ture in sUininer crops will Ultimately
destroy themes Tvell-as' the fertility of
Jthe SOIL" ' Better persue a 'more econ-
bnfical land safe mode, than entail such
-wide '-Spread destruction;- 'such as I
caught Jbhri Dorsett practicing.; J He
was gding over his fallow' field 1 with a
basket and mattock digging them up
'ttrid putting ?them' in the basket 1 to
carry to the wood pile and burn. His
good Ikdyl entered her protest against
burning' them' in the fire: place,'as they
ruined the ashes fbf soap.purposes, by
imparting t6 themf a flavor that we are
5iotr willing to take along 'with us in
our Sunday clothes. ' ' ' " ? 1 ; (
Another disgusting mode of ' intro-
ducirig 'lthrinto ' the grist ' is to
suffer rats to harbor1 where we store
grain. They are double injurious as
they consume the grin as well as defile
it. All ;the:poisbns 'manipulated for
their extermination are exceedingly
dangerous, and -1 think it safest to
leave ! them with' the mariipulations.
The ancient mode of keeping cats for
' the 5 ; purpose is the safest and ' most
Effective. They will catch them for
sfbrt as well as for food, and are eager
for 'the chase when not pressed with
hunger. This the facetious may term
the cat-egorical mode:
' As the Uord swore to hold war of
extermination against the Amalekites,
so let us, in humble imitation, sow. ex
termination against all filth in grain.
If tj we become heavy handed and
"weaTy,1 like Moses did in the - battle
agamst 'Amaiek; possibly an Aaron or
Hur, among our friends may hold up
our hands m incouragement until the
going down of the sun, and until the
last root, stem and blade be extermi
nated from this fair land of ours.
And then, ; and not 1 till then- will the,
grumbling and muttering of the con-
sumer aoout Dad nour oe nusned by
the ' elastic tread and joyous saluta
tions of the, hosts of clean seeding and
clean' field farmers in their inarch back
o'Edenlc! days. And thus we may
stay ' the tide of emigration' of ' the
Wefetahd NofthwesJ and' cause' them
to reniain among us that we may have
choice' sons to inherit Our lands, who
will bb hoble'eriough to preserve their
fertility and clfeanliness." " "
iu )uw iu 'David Madison Iayne.
TH VILS OF IMMIGRATION.
The broad, liberal and , comprehen
sive policy adopted by the United
States in dealing with the question of
immigration has . led to the . rapid de
velopment of the - resources a 1 the
country, f and : to the aggregation of
wealth, i and. also furnished a home
market for our vast productions, agri
cultural and . mechanicaL We have
drawn heavily upon the population of
Europe for. ithe .bone and, sinew to
build our railways, till our farms and
develop our mines. So far as these
immigrants I were possessed of thrift,
industrious habits and law-abiding
natures their coming habeen esteemed
a( national blessing. ,
; The danger line; seems to have been
rabhbd in the fact that te pharacter
of a &ge percentage of all the immi
grants ndw. amving 'at. Castle Garden
is not of the material to fill the above
uained requisites' aridin fa;t, are not
safe Oi; desirable as an r element of our
population, vln'Vhis i connection V the
Philadelphia J&ress pnnts an interview
vJth Di. Schulti, " whose ,'duty, it is to
eDcapiri aljjlriiriiigrants (hb arrive at
Castle garden: A Nfe quote' from the
interview : ' ; 1 ; - ; , -
. ;" Ffty per, cent; of the immigration
oi ine past xew . years is unaesiraoie,
and Thaff of that jfifty, per cent. Is: a
bsitivo burden'iothe' country. '- Our
present laws V clfheHis; with Authority
absence oi restrictive legislabriisal
reagiping to be, felt;;in marry
communities, t especially , in tne "SVest,
and the emigration commiisioriera re
ceiveletters eviryijeggm'thom
to stop further immigration West;
w BB"u.f uacK: aoout onenaiioi one per
cent1 oil the total; immlirration. 'h The
Most of 'the undesirable ones mat
iucxx w atj uuu ljlicic suineuow and hp
come charges on the communitv
Foreigners fill all the Western poor
houses and lunatic asylums. Som
years ago they would make no effort
to get further than New York, relying
on their chance of getting a home on
Ward's Island, but the authorities be
gan sending them back from there
and they have now taken to the West'
The worst elements in the immifrra.
tion are the .Italians and the Polish
Jews.'" The contract system anions
the Italians is still maintained, and
bands of them, whose passage is paid
by contracts',' come over on every ship
All of them go to work on railroads
The Polish Jews settle down on the
east side of New York and sew but
tons on men's clothing for the whole
sale firms along Broadway. They live
in filth and' poverty. The 'assisted'
immigrant is also a cause of trouble
but undesirable new comers are in
every nationality."
A statement of such a startling char
acter from one so well fitted to'udge,
should set legislators, political econ
omists and other well wishers of this
glorious Republic toinvestigatino' and
devising some means whereby the
wheat may be separated from the
chaff, and whereby undesirable immi
grants shall be prevented from em
barking from foreign shores. The
fruits of this system are to found not
only in the asylums, almshouses and
prisons of the country, but in the
menace to our political system by the
gathering of great colonies of foreign
ers in the chief cities of the "West,
who herd together in their own quar
ters, continue' to speak their own lan
guage and commence to plot against
the public peace as soon as they are
settled.
It is time, certainly, that the best
American statesmanship should devote
itself to the consideration of this prob
lem with the seriousness which its im
portance demands.- Dr. Schultz is of
the opinion that a head tax of $50 or
$100 would meet the difficulty, but
American public sentiment would
probably shrink from applying that
remedy. A better plan would be the
requiring a certificate from the United
States consul at the point of departure,
as suggested by the German societies
of the Northwest. It may not be easy
to suggest remedies free from all ob
jections, yet the' signs of the times
should not be lightly disregarded, and
action should not be delayed until too
late to control a growing evil. Amer
ican Cultivator,
HOW TO READ.
; Nobody can be sure that he has got
clear ideas, on a subject unless he has
tried to put them down on a piece of
paper in independent .words of his
own. It is' an excellent plan, too,
when you have read a good book, to
sit down and write a short abstract of
what you -can Temember of it. It is a
still better plan, if you can make up
your minds to a slight extra labor, to
do what Lords Stafford and Gibbon
and Daniel Webster did; ' After
glancing over "the title, subject, or de
sign of a book, ' these eminent men
would take a pen and write roughly
what questions they expected to find
answered in it, :what difficulties solved,
what kind of information imparted.
Such practice; keep us from reading
with the eye only, gliding vaguely
over the page j'and ' they help us to
place bur new acquisitions in relation
with what we knew before. It is
almost always worth while to read a
thing twice, to make sure that nothing
has been missed or "dropped on the
way, or wrongly. , conceived ,. or inter
preted. And if the subject be serious,
it is often well to let' an interval
elapse.
; ; Ideas, relations, statements of fac
are ; not to be taken by storm. Ve
have to steep them in the mind, in the
hope of thus , extracting their inner
most essence and significance. If one
lets an interval pass, and then returns,
it is surprising how clear and ripe that
has become .which, when we left it,
seemed crude, obscure, full of per
plexity. All this takes trouble, no
doubt ; but then it will not do to deal
with 1 ideas that we find in books or
elsewhere as a certain bird does witn
its eggs leave them in sand for the
sun to ha$ch and chance to rear,
pie who follow this plan possess noth
ing better than ideas haH-hatchedaua
convicti nris rftarftd bv accident. lney
are liie a man who should pace up
andbwn : thV world in the delusion
that1 he is Had in sumptuous robes oi
purple and velvet, when, in truth, ne
& only half covered by; the rags ana
tatters of other people's cast on .ww