VOL. XI. NO. 86. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



205 



tlic experiment foiled, while there was uo stock in 

 the other. The sheep had found the salt and 

 licked it up before there had been time for it to 

 perform its intended functions. 



Suit, when used to destroy thistles by its indi- 

 rect agency, is applied to them in small quantities, 

 to induce sheep, cattle and other stock to feed 

 upon them. It may he used to advantage on a 

 scale much larger than wh«n its direct agency is 

 relied upon. In many cases, this is an easy and 

 expeditions method of conquering thistles, there 

 being no difficulty in achieving the conquest in 

 the course of a season. Thei>rocess is as follows, 

 viz. if the thistles have acquired a considerable 

 growth, they should be cut close with a scythe 

 some days before the salting process is to com- 

 mence. The object of this is to give them an op- 

 portunity of sending out young shoots, and cloth- 

 ing themselves with a tender and fresh foliage. 

 Salt is then tp be strewed on, in quantities sufii- 

 cient only to render the thistles palatable to the 

 animals that are to feed upon them. The process 

 of salting is to be frequently repeated, special care 

 being taken not to apply salt so freely, as to glut 

 with that article the appetites of the animals. 

 Whatever stock may be put to this use, it nnist be 

 kept all the while in a condition to be hankering 

 for salt. This being the case, tlie animals will 

 I'eqtl upon the thistles daily, and sufficiently to 

 keep them entirely deprived of their foliage. The 

 thistles, pressed in this manner, will in a little 

 time be under the necessity of capitulating. It is, 

 I believe, generally known, that but few vegetables 

 if any can retain life for any considerable time, if, 

 during the season of vegetation, they are kept 

 continually deprived of their foliage. 



Several experiments tried by myself to destroy 

 Canada thistles by the means now suggested, have 

 produced the most satisfactory results. In no case 

 have I experienced a failure. Here, then, is pre- 

 sented to the farmer, who may have the misfor- 

 tune to possess parcels of Canada thistles, a cheap 

 and expeditious method of getting rid of them. 

 This process need not, as when the direct agency 

 of salt is relied upon, be confined to small patches ; 

 but it may be applied to considerable establish- 

 ments. The farmer who keeps a large stock, say 

 two or three hundred sheep, and other stock iu 

 proportion, might by the method now proposed, 

 destroy in one season the thistles of an extensive 

 field, although it were overrun with them. The 

 field to be thus operated upon, might for the sea- 

 son be set apart as the salting place for all the 

 stock on the farm, and the whole stock from time 

 to time be gathered into it to receive their portion of 

 salt, and to graze iu the field. — This, Messrs. Edi 

 tors, is the vision of my own mind. I have not 

 done it, nor seen it done, neitlier have I heard of 

 its having been done, yet, I have no doubt that, 

 by the use of such means, havoc might be made 

 among Canada thistles. 



From the lights of my 'i\vn experience, I judge 

 that from the middle of June to October is the 

 best time to operate for the destruction of thistles. 

 In the manner last prescribed, I have commenced 

 operations against them on mowing ground, some 

 weeks after the grass had been taken oft', the re- 

 sults of whicli were their entire conquest the same 

 season. It has been repeatedly announced that 

 thistles may be destroyed by cutting them at the 

 tune when they are in blossom, just before a shower. 

 I have never availed myself of an opportunity to 

 test this by experiment. Yet I think considerable 



confidence may he placed in the utility of such a 

 process. In one instance, having a small patch of 

 Canada thistles near a stream of water, I cut them 

 when they were in blossom, and then gave them 

 an artificial shower by sprinkling water upon them 

 from a water pot. It killed the most of them, and 

 the few that remained exhibited a sickly aspect. 



In general, Canada thistles, if detected while 

 they are young, can readily he destroyed by the 

 simple act of pulling them up. I have destroyed 

 manj' in this way. I choose a time for the pur- 

 pose, when the ground is wet and loose, and have 

 in my hand a pointed stick which, if necessary, I 

 run down to assist in extracting the root. 



In July last, I cominenced on a patch of Canada 

 thistles which had recently appeared on my pre- 

 mises, an experiment not before tried by myself, 

 nor by others within my knowledge. It was cut- 

 ting them oft' with a long bladed grubbing hoe 

 several inches below the surface of the ground, 

 md then settling the ground in a compact form 

 ihout them, by giving a few blows with the heel 

 )f the hoe. But few, perhaps none, that were so 

 treated have re-appeared. The ju-ospect is that 

 the experiment will result favorably. I think it 

 piite likely that, when Canada thistles grow on 

 stift' ground, or ground that is rather clayey, they 

 may be destroyed in this way very expeditiously. 



No doubt Canada thistles may be destroyed in 

 the manner proposed by 3Ir. M'Vean in a late 

 number of the Genesee Farmer; that is, by cover- 

 ng them with straw or other rubbish ; but I think 

 that other means of less expense will generally, if 

 not always, be at command. 



Now, Messrs. Editors, I consider that I have 

 redeemed my pledge. It may not have been for- 

 gotten by all the readers of your Journal, that at 

 the close of my appeal on the .subject of Canada 

 thistles, published m the Genesee Farmer, Vol. 2, 

 No. 11, I authorised the expectation that I should 

 write again on the subject, detailing the principal 

 processes by which it was known Canada thistles 

 might be destroyed. I have now done it accord- 

 ing to the best of ray abilities ; but I do not con- 

 sider that I have yet done justice to the subject. 

 The readers of your Journal are requested, there- 

 fore, to be patient, while I present to them the 

 same subject under some of its bearings, which 

 have not yet been brought into view. Difficulties 

 to be met with, in attempting a general destruction 

 of Canada thistles, will be the subject of my next 

 number. DAN BRADLEY. 



December, 1832. 



Mr.BuRRELi. Lyles, of Dewberry District, South 

 Carolina, has brought to market a few bales of a 

 new species of Cotton, the staple of which is said 

 to be superior to any seen in that section ; 1 1 cents 

 were refused for it. It was grown from seeds 

 discovered on a single stalk among Upland Cotton, 

 that attracted attention by its early maturity and 

 great yield. 



Butter. With the exception of leather, we be- 

 lieve there is no single article shipped from this 

 place that bears any comparison to the value of 

 butter. We have been furnished with the quan- 

 tity of butter shipped during the last sixty days, 

 seven-eighths or nine-tenths of which was made 

 in the county of Duchess. The quantity shipped 

 by Penfiehl, Day & Co. 8678 firkins ; and by 

 Donnelly, Cooper & Co. 3186 firkins; making an 

 aggregate of 11,864 firkins. Supposing each fir- 



kin to contain 100 pounds, which is the common 

 average, it would make 1,180,400 pounds. The 

 average price, we are told, is about 14 cents per 

 pound, which would amount to the sum of one 

 hundred and sixty-six thousand and ninety-six dol- 

 lars. — Cattskill paper. 



Steam Power in Manchester. — In this great Eng- 

 lish manufacturing lovm there were in 1831, nearly 

 400 steam engines in operation in Manchester and 

 in the adjacent suburbs, besides numerous forges, 

 bleacheries, print works and foundries. Taking 

 the average of these 400 steam engines, at 14 

 horse-power each, and the average consumption 

 of coal per hour, at 13 pounds for each horse 

 power, it will appear that the quantity of coal 

 consumed by them in each exceeds 70,000 lbs. 

 and if the quantity consumed in the foundries, 

 bleacheries, and in other processes of manufac- 

 tures, and by the inhabitants in the dwelling-houses, 

 be computed at as much more, the whole con- 

 sumption of coal in Manchester will not fall much 

 short of 140,000 lbs. during each hour of the day. 

 The price of this important article of fuel, coal, on 

 the abundant supply of which the prosperity of 

 Manchester is so essentially depeiulent, varies from 

 eight shillmgs to ten shillings stcrluig per ton, de- 

 livered on the banks of the canal. 



MECHANICS. 



The cultivation and improvement of the Me- 

 chanic Arts, in all communities, should not fail 

 to excite the emulation of mechanics themselves, 

 and ought to meet with the encouragement of all 

 who are interested iu the welfare and prosperity 

 of the public. Mechanics form the great body 

 of the population of all towns and cities : tliey 

 have been most appositely termed the "hones and 

 sinews of a nation ;" they are the men who bear the 

 " heat and burden of the day," in all cases of exi- 

 gence : they supply most of the comforts, and 

 even necessaries of life ; and are constantly en- 

 gaged in exercising their labor and skill, to bene- 

 fit directly, their country. In the United States, 

 the mechanics form not only a numerous, but most 

 respectable class of citizens; and when properly 

 encouraged, never fail to increase the wealth and 

 stability of the place of their location. Indeed, 

 wherever we see numerous, industrious and thriv- 

 ing mechanics, we are always sure to find indica- 

 tions of growing prosperity. They add to the 

 business as well as to the convenience of a city. 

 The policy that would dictate a course of stinted 

 encouragement to mechanics, is not a true one. 

 They ought to be well and liberally supported. 



What is expended with them is never wasted, 

 and seldom leaves tlie circle of the community in 

 which they reside. It not only enriches the me- 

 chanic himself, but every one around him ; for on 

 him principally depends the success of other classes 

 engaged in trade. We would wish to see the Me- 

 chanic Arts every where flourish and prosper, and 

 obtam that reward which ought to be extended to 

 i.NDnsTRv. — Mex. Gaz. 



THE LEOPARD. 



In some old writers on Natural History there 

 are accounts of the leopard being taken iu a trap, 

 by means of a mirror, which when the animal 

 jumps agauist it, brings dovtn the door upon him. 

 This story may have received some sanction from 

 the disposition of the domestic cat, when young, 

 to survey her figure in the looking-glass. 



