WOOD PULP FOB PAPER. 129 
observes : — " It is so customary to think and speak of the thistle only 
as a nuisance to be extirpated, that the settler is slow to believe this 
much -despised plant can be of any value. It is a fact, however 
worth noting, that horses and cattle are exceedingly fond of the thistle. 
It is true they will not crop it as it grows from the ground, but this is 
simply because the sharp spines or prickles with which the plant is 
studded injure the animal's lips and pi event him from chewing it. But 
let the thistles be cut down or rooted up, and allowed to lie exposed for 
a day or two ; the spines will then droop and become quite soft, and in 
this state horses or cattle will prefer the thistle to almost any kind of 
green food. Within these few days past we have seen horses rejecting rich 
grass-feed indulge themselves on thistles which had been rooted up a few 
days before, and had become soft, and there was no mistaking the relish 
with which the animals were feeding. A gentleman in this neighbourhood 
who had noticed the fondness of the horse for the thistle in this state, 
and observed the fattening qualities of the plant is accustomed to leave 
a quantity growing in his paddock, which he cuts when young for use, 
Both horses and cattle, with an exercise of instinct which almost amounts 
to reasoning, have been known to trample on the thistle when growing 
in the ground, for the purpose of crushing the spines, after which they 
will eagerly eat the plant. It may be observed that the thistle which 
abounds in these districts is of the variety known as the Pampas thistle, 
and was originally introduced from South America, the seeds having 
been probably conveyed entangled in the manes of imported horses. 
The plant is of a very succulent nature ; and, since it seems almost 
impossible to extirpate it, it would be good policy, at all events, to turn 
it to some useful account, as may easily be done by anyone who 
will be at the trouble to try the experiment." — ' Goulburn Chronicle.' 
In Head's " Eough Notes of Journeys across the Pampas," he states 
that he passed through a region covered for 180 miles with clover and 
thistles. In winter the leaves of the thistles are large and luxuriant, 
and the whole surface of the country has the rough appearance of a 
turnip-field. In spring, the clover has vanished, the leaves of the thistles 
have extended along the ground, and the country still looks like a 
rough crop of turnips. In less than a month the change is most extra- 
ordinary : the whole region becomes a luxuriant wood of enormous 
thistles, which have suddenly shot up to a height of ten or eleven 
feet, and are all in full bloom. The road or path is hemmed in 
on both sides ; the view is completely obstructed ; not an animal is to 
be seen ; and the stems of the thistles are so close to each other, and so 
strong, that, independent of the prickles with which they are armed, 
they form an impenetrable barrier. The sudden growth of these plants 
is quite astonishing ; and though it would be an unusual misfortune in 
military history, yet it is really possible that an invading army, unac- 
quainted with the country, might be imprisoned by these thistles before 
they had time to escape from them. The summer is not over before 
