COMPOSITE FAMILY 



" Jubal sang of the wrath of God, 

 And the curse of thistle and thorn; 

 But Tubal got him a pointed rod 

 And scrabbled the earth for corn." 



— Kipling. 



Of all Thistles the one 

 most difhcult to eradicate 

 is that known as Canada 

 Thistle, though Canada is 

 not its native land. Many 

 ways of disposing of the 

 pest are recommended, but 

 after all Tubal hit upon the 

 correct one, cultivate the 

 ground for something else 

 and keep at it; the plant 

 should never be allowed to 

 bloom, it should never have 

 any rest, whenever it ap- 

 pears it should be cut. The 

 reason for its successful de- 

 fiance of man lies in two 

 characteristics : First, the 

 plant possesses a horizontal 

 creeping rootstock endowed 

 with wonderful vitality and 

 capable of sending forth rootlets at every node. So 

 that when a well-established plant is disturbed by the 

 plough and left disregarded, all the farmer has done is 

 simply to prepare the ground for several individuals 

 instead of one, each of which proceeds to grow with 

 youthful vigor. He has multiplied his pest. 



Then, too, it belongs to that earth- controlling order 



258 



Canada Thistle. Cdrduus arvensis 



