SOME SMALL BENEFITS.
1. They are of some use in the world to induce more frequent and more thorough cultivation, which benefits crops.
2. The new arrival of a weed of first rank stimulates watchfulness. (Russian thistle.)
3. In occupying the soil after a crop has been removed they prevent the loss of fertility by shading the ground.
4. Weeds plowed under add some humus and fertility to the soil, though in a very much less degree than clover or cow peas.
5. Some of them furnish food for birds in winter.