74 



reference to descriptions of the plant in agricultural and other 

 works, for it must be borne in mind that the term of Calif ornian 

 thistle is not applied to it out of Tasmania, but that under the 

 heads of creeping, way, or corn thistle, it has been kno\rn and 

 written of for hundreds of years^ and no difficulty would be ex- 

 perienced in learning its history and habits. Besides, these names 

 convey some idea of the character of the plant, the former denoting 

 its well-kno^^^l creeping habits, and the others the places generally 

 infested with it, and on this account are the more appropriate. 



So far I have confined my remarks to what may be termed the 

 identification of the plant ; and this being attained, it will be easy 

 for any one to acquire a knowledge of it, for a plant that has taxed 

 the energies of farmers for hundreds of j^ears has claimed attention 

 at the hands of most, if not all, agricultural writers. In order, 

 however, to make the subject more complete, I will append a few 

 notes on the habits of the j^lant, and on the most approved methods 

 of dealing with it. 



As before stated, the creeping thistle is, perhaps, the worst of 

 weed pests, and one that once introduced into ground, is extremely 

 difficult to eradicate, on account of its power of multiplication by 

 division of the root, every particle of which is sufficient to form a 

 new plant. It has been asserted over and over again that it never 

 quits a country where it has once become esta,])lished, its powers of 

 extension by seed as well as root are enormous. Some idea of both 

 modes may be obtained by the following extracts : — 



In the A(jrkuliural Garxtte for July 3, 1875, there is an article 

 on the creeping thistle that goes into the life history of the plant. 

 It ai:)pears that the idea is prevalent in England, as well as in Tas- 

 mania, that the plant does not perpetuate itself by seed, but entirely 

 by root division. To refute this impression the proprietors of the 

 Gazette instituted an experiment, the details of which, with diagrams, 

 are given in the article as above, the following being simply a con- 

 densed account : — 



^' On September 2nd ten seeds were sown, which had all come up by 

 the 22nd, and some had commenced to show their secondary leaves. 

 By the time the prickly foliage became manifest the cold weather 

 had set in, and all the plants apparently died. However, in February 

 following a bud had just emerged through the ground, when two of 

 the specimens were taken up, and drawings made of them. By June 

 of the second year, whilst a strong shoot was growing above ground, 

 a most extraordinary rhizomation was taking place below, which by 

 the next season will jDroduce a thicket of thistles derived from a 

 single seed. It is not to be wondered at that the farmer has not 

 observed seedlings of these thistles, as they are at first very small 

 and inconspicuous, and both young and old plants die down in the 

 winter. It is estimated that a plant in the third year will jDroduce 

 from 12,000 to 20,000 seeds, but fortunately these seeds are greedily 

 devoured by the larvae of some minute beetle, which eats them to 

 such an extent as to render it difficult in some seasons to gather 

 perfect seeds." 



The following experiment, made by Mr. Curtis some years ago, 

 and reported in the Farmers' Magazine, will illustrate the root 

 growth, and its power of multiplication by even minute divisions. 



