DISADVANTAGES OF WEEDS.
1. They rob cultivated plants of nutriment.
2. They injure crops by crowding and shading.
3. They retard the work of harvesting grain by increasing the draft and by extra wear of machinery. (Bindweed, thistles, red root.)
4. They retard the drying of grain and hay.
5. They increase the labor of threshing, and make cleaning of seed difficult.
6. They damage the quality of flour, sometimes making it nearly worthless. (Allium vineale L.)
7. Most of them are of little value as food for domestic animals.
8. Some weeds injure stock by means of barbed awns. (Squirrel tail grass, wild oats, porcupine grass.)
9. Some of them injure wool and disfigure the tails of cattle, the manes and tails of horses. (Burdock, cocklebur, houndstongue.)
10. A few make "Hair balls" in the stomachs of horses. (Rabbit-foot clover, crimson clover.)
11. Some injure the quality of dairy products. (Leeks, wild onions.)
12. Penny cress, and probably others, when eaten by animals, injure the taste of meat.
13. Poison hemlock, spotted cowbane and Jamestown weed are very poisonous.
14. Many weeds interfere with a rotation of crops.
15. All weeds damage the appearance of a farm and render it less valuable. (Quack-grass, Canada thistle, plantains.)