TALKS WHH PRACTICAL IRRIGATORS. . 



135 



broader view of present and future requirements may 

 be profitably taken. With irrigation and the small 

 farm will almost certainly come better cultivation, 

 fertilization and returns for the soil tiller in all parts 

 of the United States. 



Drainage. The importance of adequate provision 

 for drainage, along with the use of water for irriga- 

 tion, is something which ought to be appreciated by 

 practical irrigators in very many localities. Where 

 but small, isolated tracts are watered, or the water 

 supply is so scant, or the climate so arid that water 

 never accumulates and stands in pools and puddles, 

 drainage is, of course, a " matter of history " only. 

 But where water is plentiful, so that it may be used 

 to excess; or where there are at times a succession 

 of heavy rains, or where any extensive system of 

 reservoirs may be constructed, care will have to be 

 taken that water is not allowed to stand in stagnant 

 pools, nor to form groggy " seeps " and marshy 

 places, else more or less land will be ruined for crop 

 production, and regions now fanied for their health- 

 fulness will be troubled by malaria and by more or 

 less malignant fevers. 



A Dangerous Pest. The Russian thistle, for 

 extermination of which Senator Hansbrough, of 

 North Dakota, asks the appropriation of $1,000,000 

 by the general government, Avas introduced twenty 

 years ago at a point near Yankton, and has been 

 steadily adding to its domain since. An extensive 

 bulletin just gotten out by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture gives a map showing the re- 

 ported distribution to extend over the east of the 

 Dakotas, northeastern Nebraska and northwestern 

 Iowa, with small spots all over the Dakotas, Nebras- 

 ka, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and it has recently 

 appeared in northwestern Kansas, and farmers there 

 report its rapid propagation. 



The Russian thistle very closely resembles the 

 common "tumble-weed," but is more spinous. In 

 fact it is a tumble-weed of the worst kind. When it 

 breaks off at the root late in the fall, it rolls away in 

 the wind at a rapid rate, scattering its seeds upon 

 every rod of ground over which it travels. Well 

 grown plants in the Dakotas are said to reach four 

 and five feet in diameter, and even more in excep- 

 tional cases. The prickly branches are so dense that 

 it is impossible to pass one's hand to the interior of 

 the bushy plant. 



The technical name of the pest is Salsolo, kali, and 

 it is briefly described as follows: Herbaceous, annual, 

 branching from the base, usually densely bushy at 

 maturity; leaves alternate, without stems, long, spiny- 

 pointed, and with narrow margins near the base, 

 usually striped with red like the stems; flowers 

 minute, at the bases of the leaves, without sepals or 



petals. It blossoms in July and August and its seeds 

 mature in September and October. 



The extermination of the Russian thistle demands 

 that it be smitten hip and thigh by a sharp hoe in the 

 hands of an active $1.25 a dayman. Digging it up 

 seems to be the only way to fight it. If it is hoed or 

 plowed up before it goes to seed it is likely to leave 

 no posterity. To plow it under later than that is idle. 

 It will take hard work to exterminate the pest. If 

 raked with a reaper some seed will surely be left to 

 perpetuate the curse. Burning will not effect a com- 

 plete eradication. Cultivating corn, potatoes and 

 other root crops serves to wipe it out if thorough 

 work is done. 



Bulletins bearing on the subject of the Russian 

 thistle are No. 31 of the University of Nebraska at 

 Lincoln, and No. 15 of the Division of Botany, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. Either of these bulletins will be sent free 

 to applicants. 



A Drouth -Resisting Fodder Plant. Califor- 

 nians are experimenting with a new fodder plant 

 known as the " Saghalien Knotweed " (Polygonum 

 Saghaliense), plants of which are now growing on 

 the experimental station grounds at Berkeley, and 

 said to be wonderfully resistant to the effects of 

 drouth. The following description is from the official 

 journal of the Cape Colony Agricultural Department: 

 " In climates exposed to drouths this Polygonum 

 grows with astonishing vigor. Its roots accommodate 

 themselves to all soils, even such as are hard and 

 stony. Besides, it is used successfully to consolidate 

 the banks of rivers, the slopes of railway embank- 

 ments, and like places. It is a very picturesque 

 plant for ornamental planting; the stems being about 

 three feet high, furrowed like those of the rush, and 

 the leaves numerous, about 11 inches long and 1% 

 inches broad. The flowers are produced in panicles 

 of little bunches, and are eagerly visited by bees 

 toward the end of summer. On the approach of the 

 European winter the stems lie down, but the root- 

 stock is perennial under the surface. It requires no 

 protection, and in the following spring new shoots 

 arise more numerous than the previous year on ac- 

 count of the plant's facility of bud production. 



In turning this plant to account as a successful 

 fodder, the stems are cut in spring level with the soil 

 as soon as they have reached a height of three feet 

 or more. The entire cutting is passed over to the 

 farm stock, which are all very fond of it, whether 

 fresh or made into hay. New stems begin to sprout 

 up immediately and furnish a second, followed by a 

 third and even a fourth cutting in good soils, which 

 keep up a prolonged vegetation. Under these con- 

 ditions a clever cultivator could secure a return of 

 about twenty-five tons per acre. A plantation is made 



