WEEDS OF MAINE. 263 



common by the roadsides and in pastures. The seeds, if aHowed 

 to mature, are disseminated far and wide by the winds. " During- 

 the first year of its growth a cut with the hoe, or a table spoonful 

 of salt applied to the crown of the plant will destroy it." {Ameri' 

 can Agriculturist.) It is biennial, and produced only from seed. 



6G. Canada Thistle — Cursed T. — Cirsium arvense. Rhizoma or root-stalk perennial, 

 creeping horizontally six inches to six feet below the surface of the ground, and sending 

 np numerous erect branches. Stem one to three feet high, slender and smoothish, 

 branched above. Leaves oblong or lancelot, prickly-margined. Heads much smaller 

 than the preceding, numerous. Flowers rose purple. 



This is no doubt the worst weed with which the farmer has to 

 contend, and like most of our troublesome weeds, was brought 

 from Europe. About two hundred years ago a Scotchman brought 

 some of the seeds to Canada, and sowed them in his g-arden ; in 

 due time some seeds were blown by the winds to his neighbors' 

 lands, where they took root, and now "it is a pest, decreasing 

 the annual products, when abundant, from twenty-five to fifty per 

 cent." It delights in a rich soil, but will grow in almost any if 

 not too wet. The following mode of eradication is taken from 



ol. Ill, page 101, of the "Illustrated Annual Register of Rural 

 Affairs,^' by J. J. Thomas, " The roots cannot live unless they 

 breathe through their lungs, the leaves. Keep the portion of the 

 plants above ground from growing, and the whole patch may be 

 destroyed in a single year. This may be accomplished in several 

 ways. Small patches may be smothered by covering with boards, 

 closing the joints with a second layer, to prevent a single plant 

 from finding its way through. Sawdust, tan, or straw will accom- 

 plish the same end if laid on thick enough. If a single plant, 

 however, escapes, it will sustain life in a portion of the roots. 

 Another way is to cut the plants off daily even with the surface 

 of the ground, so that not a single leaf can grow. The best way 

 for common practice is to plow them under, and continue the 

 plowing often enough to keep them smothered. If well and 

 deeply done, once a month will answer the purpose. This mode 

 succeeds best on heavy or clayey soils, which do not permit the 

 thistles to find their way readily upwards. But even on such 

 soils, the work must be very carefully performed, for if a portfon 

 of the weeds are but partly covered, they cannot be.destroj^ed. 

 On gravelly and other porous soils it is more difficult to destroy 

 them by plowing. The operation must therefore be more frequent 

 on such soils, and greater care taken to do it deeply, and in the 



