142 



MORE ABOUT WEEDS 



before the latter have gone to seed will help, but burning 

 is essential to complete success, as, otherwise, the thistles 

 will send out seed-bearing branches below the places 

 where the mowing machine cuts them. 



Corn, potatoes, 

 beets, or any other cul- 



ken care of, will, in 

 two years, rid the land, 

 not only of Russian 

 thistles, but, also, of 

 nearly all other weeds. 

 Sheep are very fond 

 of the Russian thistle 

 until it becomes too 

 coarse and woody. 

 The young plants 

 may, therefore, be 

 kept down by pastur- 

 ing sheep on them, 

 and the only valuable 

 quality these trouble- 



FIG. 79. Branch of Russian thistle, showing SOlTie plants have may 



appearance before flowering and before the ... , ., 



spiny, branchlets have elongated; a, spines; in thlS maiUlCr DC Utll- 



b, young grain with the covering removed; . 



c, blossom removed from the axil and ized. 

 viewed from below; d. section of fruiting 



calyx, side view; c, same, seen from above. Jf tllC Russian 



thistle is to be kept out of the cultivated fields, it 

 must be got rid of along roadsides, railroad grades, 

 waste land where the sod has been broken, and, in fact, 

 in all places where it may, by chance, have obtained a 

 foothold. 



