THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



145 



TO DESTEOY CANADA THISTLES. 



OuE offer of a Premium for the best essay " On 

 the best Method of Destroying Canada Thistles," 

 called out many excellent articles on this subject, a 

 few extracts from which will be interesting : 



"I have succeeded in killing these pests simply 

 by mowing them when they were in bloom, always 

 aiming to cut them just as a warm rain is com- 

 mencing. If some survive, I mow them in the 

 same way the next year. AH avIio have had deal- 

 ings with them must know that, though the roots 

 may be essentially cut up with the hoe, they still 

 live, and seem to thrive 112^011 pej'secution ; but .on 

 mowing them as here directed, the stump will die, 

 and afterward the root. IST. — Ilew Hamj^sJiirey 



" As soon as the ground is sufficiently dry to 

 work well in the spring, plow not less than eight 

 inches deep ; if deeper, all the better. Sow three 

 pecks buckwheat to the acre, harrow lightly before 

 sowing and also lightly after. Bushing it in is still 

 better, if convenient. When the buckwheat is 

 about six or eight inches high, plow it all in, cov- 

 ering tops as much as possible, and as near the 

 depth of the first i^lowing as may be, crossing the 

 first plowing. This crop will ripen early enough 

 for sowing winter wheat or rye. Commence plow- 

 ing again as at the first time, and about as deep. — 

 Sow wheat or rye, as the case may be, and in the 

 usual way of harrowing it in. Should it be desir- 

 able to seed for meadow, it will only help to exter- 

 minate the thistles, which will be few and far 

 between at the time of mowing. Cut the grass as 

 soon as it is in blossom the first and second year. 

 D. P. S. — Westmoreland, Oneida Co., iV. Y. 



"Canada Thistles should be kept down either by 

 hoeing or plowing. A plant, weed, or tree, can no 

 more live without leaves than a person can live 

 without lungs ; therefore, if no leaves are permitted 

 to grow, they must die. This I know from experi- 

 ence, having killed several patches on my farm. If 

 a hoe is used, they should be cut off" as deep in the 

 ground as you can strike the hoe ; and don't leave 

 it for the boys and hired men to do, but do it your- 

 self, and see that no green thing is left. If a plow 

 is used, once in two or three weeks will be often 

 enough. One summer will use them up, if it is 

 tlioroughly done. Be sure to attend to them often 

 in tlie mouths of July and August, for Nature will 

 make powerful efforts during this time to produce 

 seed for the propagation of the species, for that is 

 her great object; and this effort on the part of 

 Nature will draw hard upon the roots, and weaken 

 tliem so much that if they are cut at this season of 

 the year they are pretty sure to die. I once cut a 

 patch of them regularly once a week. They con- 

 tinued to sprout up all through the season, without 

 any diminution, until the latter part of August, 

 when I cut them for the last time and sowed the 

 ground to wheat. Not a thistle has shown itself 

 tliere since. 0. C. Wilson. — JSfewfane, Niagara 

 Co,, N. F." 



"This king of pests is a perennial, propagating 

 itself by winged seeds, suckers, or layers ; grows 

 any where, thrives most on a rich soil { has a deep, 

 rapidly-growing, horizontal root, from which it 

 throws up shoots at short distances and spreaduag 



in all directions, shortly occupying the whole field, 

 from which they are not easily eradicated. 



" To the farmer who has but a few patches of 

 them on his farm, I would say, cut off the tops as 

 fast as they appear above ground one season, and 

 you eftectnally kill them, root and branch. This 

 method I have frequently tried to my entire satis- 

 faction, and on it I would mainly rely for their sure 

 destruction. Where large fields are covered with 

 them, if meadow, always mow them when in blos- 

 som. After a year or two you wiU find them 

 rapidly diminishing. If pastures are covered with 

 them, mow them as often as they get six or eight 

 inches high, and in two years you will have but few 

 left. 



"A heavy crop of buckwheat, followed by oats, 

 and seeded to clover, will almost entirely destroy 

 them. 



" These are a few of the many methods by which 

 they may be greatly diminished, and then apply 

 the 'sure cure,' or, in other words, keep them 

 under ground with the hoe one season, and the 

 work is done. B..— Walton, K F." 



THE CULTIVATION OF ONIONS. 



Among the crops which may be grown by farm- 

 ers convenient to city markets, we may name that 

 of Onions as one readily produced and generally 

 saleable at remunerating prices. Perhaps a brief 

 stateiuent of the Connecticut method of growing 

 onions may be of interest to a portion of your 

 readers, who may be thus situated, and whose cir- 

 cumstances may lead them to devote a portion of 

 land to the culture of this valuable esculent. 



The best soil for onions is a sandy loam of a dark 

 color, though any loamy soil will produce them. 

 A dark >color can be given to sands or loams by a 

 dressing of muck ; and this, well decomposed, is 

 often used successfully on this crop. All stones 

 and sods should be removed, that the drill may do 

 perfect work, and that the rows may be uninter- 

 rupted by any obstruction. 



The best manure is thought to be that from 

 stables where the horses are fed freely with grain, 

 well decomposed, so that it may be thoroughly 

 mixed with the surface soil. Leached ashes are 

 also of high value — more so than unleached. Any 

 good compost manure may be used successfully, if 

 enough is applied; but that pretty active and 

 quickly operating, is the best. 



To prepare the soil, manure freely and then plow 

 thoroughly, and harrow until in very fine tilth. 

 Onion growers do not generally plow very deep — 

 usually six or seven inches ; but the fact that better 

 crops are obtained after carrots, shows that deep- 

 ening the soil is useful. The preparation should be 

 given as early in the spring as the season will admit. 



Those who raise their own seed, have found it to 

 their interest to select the best shaped and most 

 desirable onions for that purpose, and have thereby 

 much improved the product. Plant early, and 

 gather the seed as soon as ripe. Keep it in a dry, 

 cool place, until wanted for use. 



Different varieties have their seasons of popu- 

 larity. The Silver Shin is much admired ; the Red 

 is thought the best for shipment ; the White Portu- 

 gal is milder flavored, but does not keep as well. 



For planting an acre, from three to four pounds 

 of seed are requii-ed. The seed is put in with a 



