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A STUDY OF THE PAINT BRUSH OR ORANGE HAWKWEED 



(Reprinted from the Journal of Agriculture, Sept.-Oct. 1911) 

 W. Lochhead, Macdonald College 



An inquiry among the farmers of the Eastern Townships.— What the best 

 farmers are doing to control this weed. — How they view the situation. 



A representative of the Journal of Agriculture had the privilege recently of 

 spending portions of three weeks in the counties of the Eastern Townships where 

 the Paint Brush has become a serious pest. The object of the trip was to see for 

 ourselves the extent of the invasion of the weed and to find out what the best 

 farmers think of the present situation and what they are doing to control it. 



At the time of our trip but few plants of the Paint Brush were in bloom, con- 

 sequently the extent of the infestation was not so evident as it was in June before 

 the meadows and the roadsides were cut. 



Paint Brush came to us from Europe mostly by way of Vermont, where it has 

 been a serious pest for some ten years or more. It is capable of spreading both by 

 means of its plumed seeds and by its runners. An infested field will soon infest 

 adjacent fields, for the wind will carry the seed quite readily. Moreover, when a 

 seed produces a plant new plants will arise all about it from the runners that are 

 sent out from its base. 



Another peculiar habit of Paint Brush is the manner of bearing its leaves. 

 These are borne in the nature of a rosette, fiat on the surface of the ground. As a 

 consequence it is difficult for other plants to five where Paint Brush gets a foot- 

 ) old. We have seen many pastures where the weed covers every inch of the ground, 

 having crowded out every other plant. 



The flowers of Paint Brush are quite beautiful and striking, being of a bright 

 orange-red. They are arranged in heads like those of a dandelion, only each stalk 

 is from one to two feet high and bears a number of heads. There is no mistaking 

 the weed in flower. 



In Richmond County 



A beautiful drive it is from Richmond to Ulverton along the St. Francis River, 

 but it does not reveal the Paint Brush that grows in the fields back from the river. 

 Inquiry along the route told us that the weed was a serious one and that many 

 farmers did not know what to do with it. Most of them had made no determined 

 effort to control it, having heard that it was almost impossible to cope with it. 

 At Ulverton. however, farmers Uke Mr. Reed have little fear of it except in pastures 



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