V / 



and Tasmania, and by the same means it may not only find its way 

 throughout the Island but to the most remote places. 



It is a public injury that lands much overrun with the pest should 

 continue, to be cropped with grain of any kind, or that even hay 

 crops should be taken from them. Better by far the land be laid 

 down in pasture, by which means the risk of dispersion would be 

 very much decreased. 



A very good plan to adopt with suspected seed is to throw it into 

 a cask or tank of water before sowing, stirring it gently for a short 

 time. If it contain any thistle or other light seeds they will rise 

 to the surface and may be skimmed off" and burnt. 



Some idea will be gained as to the extent of the evil Avhich is so 

 imminent, on reference to the article in the Agricultural Gazette, 

 before quoted, where it is stated that the annual cost to the farmers 

 of Great Britain, for the spudding and hoeing of thistles alone, is 

 not less than £125,000. 



It would be interesting to ascertain whether the beetle alluded 

 to as eating the seed in England is present in Tasmania. I am not 

 aware that it is, but even supposing it to be here it is not always at 

 work, and some seasons and places are more productive of thistle 

 seed than others. Before closing these notes I am desirous of 

 making a short reference to Cnicus lance.olatus, the common Spear 

 or Plume Thistle, which in Tasmania is called the Scotch Thistle. 

 My object in alluding to this plant is to point out that it 

 is not the true Scotch Thistle. The plant recognised by botanists 

 as the Scotch Heraldic Thistle is the Onoperdon acanthium, a speci- 

 men of which I now exhibit. Cnicus lanceolatus is unquestion- 

 ably the Spear or Plume Thistle. It was figured as such in Parkinson 

 250 years ago, and still retains those names in modern works on 

 botany. The plant, as pointed out by Mr. Wm. Archer, is not at 

 all peculiar to Scotland, and in no way is the term applicable to it, 

 except from the belief that it first found its way thence to Tasmania. 



Whether the Act passed in reference to this plant is sufliciently 

 explicit to ensure a conviction I am not prepared to say, but it 

 could not be proved to be the Scotch Thistle, and therefore it 

 would be desirable to have the names by which it has been so long 

 known incorporated in that Act. 



