PROCEEDINGS OF TIIK FARMERS' CLUB. 95 



How TO Kill Canada Thistles. 



Mr. A. N. Kent, A;nl)i)y, Aslitaluila i-oiinty, Oliio, i^ivcs liis cxpcrictice 

 with tlu'sc pi'sts (if the t'lirmcr, tor tlic bciiclit of the oonesporKleiit in Illi- 

 nois, wiio stiiletl that tliey were just he-;imiiiig to inake their ai)|)earaiice in 

 his neijrhburhoocl. Mr. K. says: 



" I will tell you how I did. I had u patch of several rods covered with 

 them. I pulled them up two years, but they grew more plentiful. I was 

 bound to Hit rill of them, and I diti it thus: I took stron;^ brine out oi the 

 bottotn of a purk barrel, sharpenctl a slick and run it down si.\ inches close 

 tt) the root of each thistle, and lliied U|)the orifice with the brine. Il killed 

 them c<>ni[>letely." 



We have known a small patch of thistles killed most expeditiously as 

 follows: They were first mown, and then a man went over the stubble with 

 an oil can fdled with sulphuric ucid, and poured a few drops from the spout 

 into llie hollow stalk of each plant. Except the labor, this is noi an expen- 

 sive application. 



Mr. James Seely — I think seeding- and mowing the only renicdy for this 

 pest. To cultivate the ground, except by thorough fallowing-, is a sure 

 means of encouraging their growth and spreading. And even the most 

 perfect and expensive fallowing is liable to fail of its object if by chance a 

 single stalk is alhtwed to seed in the neighborhood, because tlic seeds are 

 scattered by the wind with great facility, and the better the tilth tlie more 

 readily the seed germinates. By ordinary cultivation the roots are broken 

 and distriliuted, and the seed is matured usually before the crop is ripe 

 enough to harvest. Under such circumstances the spread is very rapid. 

 And oven in pastures they multiply rapidly, especially in loose soils. To 

 rid land of thistles, seed it thickly with grass. A good strong growth of 

 grass, besides reducing the am<junt of thistle at once, decreases its vit;jlity, 

 and thus retanls the maturity until a later period than that at wliich the 

 grass is ripe enough for haying. . If, then, the crop is cut in season, the 

 ttlcnder stumps of the thistles are exposed to the damaging efTccts of the 

 weather, and no fear need be entertained of spreading by either root or 

 seeding. If the cutting is delayed, there is little danger from seeding, as 

 it is rare to find seeds having vitality when grown among grass. Time 

 and patient determination are necessary to final success. How long a 

 time will be required in every case to complete their destructi(jn, I will 

 n(»l undertake to say ; but I iiave never known an instance when enough 

 thistles were found at the second cutting to injure the market value of the 

 hay, or \n nmteriall^' lessen its amount. As a rule, I think the third 

 mowing will prove efiectual, except against what may yet spring from 

 seed remaining in the soil." 



The Clover Hay Worm. 



Mr. \Vn) K. (irifRn — Etiuality, (Jalbitin Co. (."southern) Illinois, gives us 

 the following dt'scription of a farmer's pest, that is new to us here, or at 

 least has not been observed. It will be well for every out- who discovers 

 the "bad appearance" of clover hay, spoken of by Mr. G., to examine 

 whether it is caused by the worm that he describes. He says : 



