256 



ARID AGRICULTURE. 



RUSSIAN 



THISTLE 



POVERTY 

 WEED 



Russian thistle is now common everywhere 

 and is known to everybody. It is a weed which 

 seldom grows anywhere but in cultivated ground 

 or that which has been dug up at some time. 

 Russian thistle was at one time the subject of 

 many scare articles by those who believed it 

 would ruin agriculture over large areas. It does 

 much damage on poorly cultivated farms, espe- 

 cially in the semi-arid sections where grain- 

 growing predominates. Its principal damage 

 in irrigated sections is in the tumble weeds fill- 

 ing ditches and clogging flumes. The Russian 

 thistle is not a bad weed to cope with. It ma- 

 tures late and there is a long season in which the 

 farmer can kill it by cultivation. Once cutting 

 off the plant below the crown kills it. It seems 

 that after Russian thistles have grown a few 

 years in a waste section of land they disappear 

 for some unknown reason. Many think that 

 Russian thistle makes good fodder, but we have 

 better forage in the arid region. It is not a 

 'thistle at all, but a true tumble weed, belonging 

 to the goosefoot or lamb's quarter family. 



Poverty weed occurs in many western soils. 

 It is usually found in land of poor tilth, contain- 

 ing more or less clay. This is a small weed, 

 growing from a few inches to a foot high. It 

 has a rough, sticky feel, a strong odor and bears 

 little flower heads hanging in the axils of the 

 leaves. Poverty weed is a perennial and niulti- 



