

/o 



Mr. Curtis, after stating an instance of a descending root, 19 feet 

 long, having been taken out of a quarry, says : — "I planted a piece 

 of root two inches long in my garden in April, and by November 

 it had thrown out stolons on every side, some of these being 8 feet 

 long, which had thrown up tufts of leaves 5 feet from the original 

 root ; the whole of the roots when dug up Aveighed four pounds. 

 Notwithstanding the man used the utmost caution in digging it up 

 in order to extract all the roots, in the spring fifty or sixty young 

 plants made their appearance on the site of the old one. 



In the above extracts sufficient has been said to show that it is 

 no ordinary foe with which we have to deal. Although it may not 

 be jDossible to entirely eradicate the plant, much may be 

 done, by the adoption of proj^er measures, to lessen the evil. It 

 has been shown that the plant increases in two distinct ways — by 

 seed and by root division. It is by seed that the plant becomes 

 disseminated, every seed falling in a favourable situation being 

 capable, in the third year of its growth, of producing, as before 

 stated, from 12,000 to 20,000 seeds, which from their pappiform 

 nature will be scattered far and near, so that a very few plants 

 maturing in some neglected place will suffice for the continuance of 

 the evil. 



Its increase and spread by root division is very often favoured 

 by the ordinary farming operations, or by the means adopted for 

 its destruction. Ploughing, or breaking up of land both favour 

 its extension. Even in England, where the winters are much 

 more severe than in Tasmania, laying down the land to bare 

 fallow, unless followed by an unusually severe frost, does not 

 tend to abate the evil. Ordinary hoeing or cutting with the scythe,, 

 if done at the proper season, may to a certain extent prevent its 

 extension by seed, but will not materially diminish root action. 

 Hoeing, indeed, often tends to the spread of the plant by dividing 

 the roots, and to such an extent does this take place on badly- 

 farmed land in England that frequently whole fields may be seen 

 completely overrun with it. Cutting with the scythe is objection- 

 able, and especially so if done early in the season, as it causes the 

 plant to form underground buds in profusion, which soon break 

 with renewed vigour. 



The object to be attained in dealing with this plant with a view 

 to its extirpation is a twofold one. Firstly, to prevent its dissemina- 

 tion by seed, and secondly, to attack the roots so as to lessen or 

 destroy their vitality. To effect this the following practice is most 

 in favour with good cultivators : — Where the land has become foul 

 with this pest it should at once be laid down to grass and depastured 

 by sheep or cattle for at least eight j^ears. By this means the plant 

 is kept in check by the browsing of the stock, which eat it pro- 

 miscuously with the other herbage, and when the ground is again 

 broken up it will be found if the plant has not been entirely 

 destroyed that it has at least been greatly subdued, and that cultiva- 

 tion may be carried on at a minimum expense for thistle extraction. 



As an instance of the benefit of laying down to grass, I will mention 

 that on land occupied by Mr. Hull on the Brown's River Road, this 

 thistle was introduced with the seed barley before referred to, and to 

 such an extent- had it spread that it threatened the destruction of a 



