160 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The root at three or four years old will be as large as my 

 linger, perhaps, at the top ; it may branch a little. Where 

 I have found it on my own ground, I have taken a spade and 

 dug it up. I have dug a post hole down around this, root to 

 the depth of perhaps two feet, as low as I could get and 

 work to advantage. Then I have pulled on that root and it 

 has broken o£F, perhaps six inches below where I dug. 



Mr. Palmer, of Stockbridge. I have seen a root of it ten 

 or twelve feet deep in a gravel bed I was digging. 



Mr. Edson. We call that " lupin," on Cape Cod. There 

 are two varieties, one has a white blossom and the other has 

 a purple blossom. 



Mr. Heath. I once sent a root of it and some of the 

 flowers and leaves to the " Country Gentleman" office and 

 asked questions about it. Their reply was that they were as 

 much in the dark as I was. It seemed to be a new thing to- 

 them. I know of no toAvns that have it except our town of 

 Stockbridge and the town of Lee, where there is some of it. 



Mr. Gold. The lupin has a papilionaceous flower, like the 

 pea. It has not a flower like the plant you are referring to. 



Mr. AViLLiAMS. If that plant is confined to Stockbridge, 

 I would recommend to the people of other places to keep it 

 out. I have tried to do so on my own place and feel that I 

 have been successful. Whenever I see a single stalk I will 

 go some distance to get something to dig it up, and when I 

 go to the depth that I speak of, I am sure to break the root ; 

 I put a handful of salt in the hole, and every one that has 

 passed the blossoming period I put in my pocket and carry 

 to the house and put it in the stove. That is a practice that I 

 have followed with many weeds, such as the wild carrot, the 

 yellow daisy, etc. I have kept my farm comparatively clear, 

 and every farmer who finds on his land these weeds, espec- 

 ially those that increase so rapidly, ought to take this course. 

 I think it is the only way by which we can protect ourselves 

 against these foul seeds that are coming in and are being in- 

 creased so rapidly in number and variety. There are some 

 farms within my knowledge, for whicli I would not give as 

 much Ijy one-half, on account of this foul matter that is in 

 them, as I would if they were clear. 



