Author : F. C. Harrison
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781332210961
Total Pages : 86 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (19 download)
Book Synopsis The Weeds of Ontario (Classic Reprint) by : F. C. Harrison
Download or read book The Weeds of Ontario (Classic Reprint) written by F. C. Harrison and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Weeds of Ontario A weed has been defined as any plant out of place; and, in that sense, a wheat plant in a field of turnips is a weed. Most weeds do considerable, and some very much, injury to the crops in which they are found. They produce these effects in several ways: 1. They absorb soil moisture. The amount of water which is taken up by weeds and evaporated from the surface of the leaves is very great. For instance, an average Mustard plant pumps from the soil about fourteen ounces, or seven-tenths of a pint, per day; a sunflower, thirty-three ounces; and so on. The transpiration is generally in proportion to the surface of the leaf: but thin leaves transpire, or throw off water, more freely than fleshy ones. Consequently weeds having large leaf-surface draw from the soil and give off through the leaves a large amount of water, and thereby rob the surrounding plants. Many botanists consider this waste of moisture the most serious injury done by weeds. 2. They use plant food. Weeds naturally make use of the same food as the cultivated plants among which they grow. Consequently they deprive a crop of a large amount of the available nourishment; and they rob the succeeding crop as well. For example, an analysis of the Russian Thistle by Snyder showed "that it contains from 12 to 17 per cent. as much nitrogen as there is in clover; and an ordinary thistle of this kind covering a square yard takes more potash and lime from the soil than two good crops of wheat from the same area." 3. They shade, crowd, and choke useful plants. Weeds often grow more vigorously than useful plants; and, as a consequence, they shade, or crowd, or partially choke the seedlings of the desired crop. Black Bindweed (Fig. 19), for instance, often covers completely a large part of the plants among which it grows. 4. They increase the labour and expense of cleaning seed. At best, it is difficult to clean many of the smaller seeds, such as clover, grass, and rape seed; and the difficulty is greatly increased when they are grown on a dirty farm. It is almost impossible to clean clover seed by winnowing. Hence the necessity that the land on which it grows be clean. 5. They interfere with a regular rotation of crops. A well balanced rotation of crops conserves the fertility of the soil; but it is often necessary to depart from such a rotation when noxious weeds get possession of the farm - to give undue attention to the growth of hoed crops, for instance, or almost omit a certain crop altogether for a time, as in the case of the oat crop on a farm overrun with wild oats. 6. They harbour the spores of injurious fungi. Many of the rusts which attack grain crops find a resting place on weeds of the grass and other families, which preserve them through the fall, winter, and spring. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
