102 



progress would be made in keeping down weeds and in preventing their spread until 

 the Government appointed a Weed Inspector. Frequently it is necessary to force a 

 careless neighbor to do his duty, but no farmer wants to make enemies of his 

 neighbors. A government official could do this very well. 



In Huntingdon County 



While very little time was spent in the vicinity of Huntingdon some inquiries 

 were made as to the prevalence of the Paint Brush in the townships surrounding 

 the town. W. H. Walker, Esq., M.L.A., who knows the district about as well as 

 any person and who is one of the most progTessive farmers of this prosperous 

 county, said that Paint Brush was present to some extent but up to the present 

 could not be considered a troublesome pest. To be sure it has a foothold in pas- 

 tures that have been allowed to run out, but in most farms to the south and west 

 of Huntingdon the land is well cultivated and a systematic rotation of crops is 

 practised. As a result Paint Brush does not make headway. 



Mr. Gordon Wood, the newly appointed District Ptepresentative, although not 

 well acquainted with the district, was of the opinion that Paint Brush will never 

 become much of a pest where good cultivation is followed. 



In the eastern portion of Huntingdon County, however, the Paint Brush is more 

 of a pest than in the western part. " There is more broken land that is in permanent 

 pasture which cannot be cultivated. In such land Paint Brush is a real and threat- 

 ening pest, and the farmers do not know how to prevent its spread. Messrs. Wm. 

 Cameron and Robert Neely, of Herdman, expressed themselves quite freely regard- 

 ing the situation. They believed that ordinary cultivation will kill Paint Brush, but 

 they did not think that the too common practice of giving but one plowing to sod, 

 sowing it to oats and seeding down to clover and timothy would control or kill the 

 weed. They thought that sheep would keep down the weed in pastures, but un- 

 fortunately but few farmers keep sheep in their neighborhood. Mr. Neely said 

 that twenty years ago most farmers kept sheep and the pastures were then much 

 freer from weeds of all lands than they are now. Sow Thistle and quack grass were, 

 he considered, much more to be feared in cultivated land than Paint Brush. 



We called upon several farmers between Rockburn and Franklin Centre, who 

 were good enough to discuss the Paint Brush situation with the Journal represent- 

 ative. Mr. W. J. Moe said that the weed was abundant on loam, but not on 

 gravelly soil. " I have no trouble in dealing with Paint Brush," he continued, " in 

 land that I can cultivate, but I do not know how I am going to fight it in the upper 

 pastures. I do not know if sheep will keep the weed clipped down or not. I do 

 not mean to say that I do not mind the weed in my other fiekls, for I do very much. 



