488 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Here, then, although the musk- thistle is not the most 

 fecundate of all, yet if even one head of flowers should 

 scatter its ripened seed around, and a due proportion 

 should grow, they would soon make a tolerable show. 

 So is it with thistles of this kind ; but with such as oc- 

 cur in pastures or in seeds there ought to be but little 

 trouble in eradicating them ; not merely keeping them 

 under, but complete extermiiiation should be aimed at, 

 which can only be effected by never letting a specimen 

 flower. We yesterday examined some old church- 

 wardens' accounts, in which we found that in a single 

 year 3d. a dozen had been paid for twenty-one dozen of 

 sparrows' heads. Surely it would be a more profitable 

 investment to pay 3d. a dozen for thistle-heads, in 

 which case, though the accounts would be greatly 

 swollen for three or four years, yet we venture to ex- 

 press the opinion that in ten years a poor thistle would 

 hardly be found for the gratification of the collecting 

 botanist ; and the few scattered ones that might occur 

 under careless agrarian cultivation would in all proba- 

 bihty be due to the importation of foreign seeds. 



We have now to speak of the perennial forms of 

 thistle J and here the Cnicus arvensis, from its specific 

 name, might appear to be an agrarian rather than a 

 pasture weed : but, in truth, it is far too abundant in 

 both, and wherever found it is difficult to eradicate on 

 account of the long succulent creeping Rhizomata, by 

 which so large an underground growth is maintained, 

 being ever ready to shoot up on the advent of spring, 

 and suddenly to show forth the patch of thistles where 

 formerly only a few had been observed. From the well- 

 known fact of the increase of this plant by the means 

 here described, the farmer concludes that it is only pro- 

 pagated in this way, and that the seed of this plant will 

 not grow. And Curtis entertained the same opinion, 

 for after describing the growth of the part which 

 botanists call the rhizome, he says as follows :— " This, 

 therefore, is the manner of their reproduction : the 

 fibres left shoot out larger roots, which also rise higher 

 in the soil and spread ; these form buds, and hence come 

 our annual crop of thistles." 



However, as we had reason to suspect some fallacy in 

 this, we collected some seeds and planted ten in a pot, 

 and we found that everyone germinated. We have 

 them still growing j and when the experiments are com- 

 plete, shall hope to make out some new facts in the 

 natural history of thistles. At present, however, we 

 can only record the opinion that the Carduus arvensis 

 is annually produced from seeds to an enormous extent ; 

 but so small is its first year's growth above the ground 

 as hardly to attract notice, while the underground 

 growth is preparing small buds, which make a complete 

 colony the second year. However, it happens fortu- 

 nately that much of the seed of this plant is eaten by a 

 wevil, and that which arrives at perfection is a favourite 

 of small birds, and particularly of the finches. 



To destroy thistles of this kind in a meadow, we 

 should take care never to let the leaves, which are the 

 lungs of the plant, have time for their growth ; as soon 

 as we see them we should trample them under foot, or 

 hammer the young buds to bits with something like the 



old " clod beetle ;" and when they greatly abound, a 

 repeated rolling with a Crosskill seems advisable, the 

 object being to bruise them, as they do not recover in- 

 juries of this kind so soon as those done by a sharp im- 

 plement, clean wounds in plants, as every gardener 

 knows, being much more easy to heal than contused 

 ones ; and as the object is to prevent the growth of the 

 leaf, which is the active agent in building up other 

 structures of the plant, not even omitting those below 

 ground. If this be continued with either this kind of 

 thistle or nettles, the rhizome will gradually die out. 

 Curtis condemns the early attack upon thistles ; he says, 

 " Clearing the wheat of thistles by the hook or spud 

 is usually practised during the months of April and 

 May ; but, to show of how little avail it is to cut down 

 thistles early in the year, the following rustic doggrel 

 may be subjoined : — 



" ' If thistles be cut in April, 



They appear in a little while ; 



If in May, 



They peep out the next day ; 



If cut in June, 



They reappear very soon ; 



If in July, 



They'll hardly die ; 



But if cut in August, 



Die they must!' " 



From these lines it would appear to be generally 

 known that thistles (and we have seen the same rhymes 

 applied to the case of nettles) grow again after injury, 

 more or less readily according to the month in which it 

 is done ; so that in May, when the destinies for the year 

 of so many plants are determined, the new growth is 

 rapid. Well, be it so ; but we would remark that cutting 

 them in April or May does the greatest amount of per- 

 manent injury on this very account, whereas although it 

 is equally true, that if this be done in August, you see 

 no more of them for that year ; yet no real injury is 

 done to the future crop of thistles or nettles, inasmuch 

 as by that time the plant had used all its growing 

 powers to the enlargement of the underground stems — 

 the root-stocks — which are thus strengthened for the 

 following year's growth ; for it should be remembered 

 that in August its own natural period of growth is 

 nearly over. On this point we may quote the remarks 

 of a writer in the Agricultural Gazette for June, 1859, 



" In August the nettle has performed all its functions 

 for the year, even to the production of seed, so that, al- 

 though upon being cut down it will disappear for that 

 year, the pest is not at all injured in productiveness for 

 the next season. The fallacy of recommending August 

 cutting of these weeds must be apparent to everybody. 

 The madman in the poem is made to say to the soldier 

 as to killing his enemies — 



' Kill a fool's head of your own ; 

 They'll die of themselves if you let them alone.' 



" And this is quite true of these enemies of the farmer 

 at this season. The first cold night acts quite as readily 

 in destroying the above-ground growth as the most 

 careful cutting. Hence the injury inflicted by August 

 cutting is more apparent than real." 



In dealing, therefore, with perennial plants of this 

 kind, aa found in pastures, the only plan is to bruise 



