is then a soft, smooth, and innoccnt-lookiiifj plant, with narrow, 
fleshy leaves an inch lon<f. It blossoms in July and Au<ifust, anil its 
seeds mature in September and October. 
The seeds' are aViout a twelfth to a sixteenth of an inch in 
diameter, of a dull-<jrayish or <;reenish-<jray color. When the thin 
coverin';; is rubbed off from them they are seen to have a spiral 
structure. 
The report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 11592, pajic 
2 1^, <jives the followin'^ concerniiifj the plant: 
“The Russian thistle <jrows best on high, dry land. The 
plants are less numerous and robust in wet than in dry seaifons, not 
because they cannot stand wet weather, but because they are more 
crowded by other plants. The thistle appears to grow cquallv well 
in alkaline and non-alkalinc soils. The absence .of trees and fences, 
the strong winds, and the methods of farming followeil in the 
Northwest are particular!)' favorable to its ilistrlhution and growth. 
Wheat is sowed over acre after acre, sometimes merelv drilled in on 
the furrow, or even on unplowed stubble land, ^\'here whole 
sections and e\ en townships form one continuous wheat flekl, an 
acre here and there so grown up to weeds as not to Vie worth har\ est- 
ing, does not seem to be of much importance ; hut it is in such places 
that the principal development of thistle seeds for the suceeeding 
year takes place. Plowing in the spring or earlv summer is espec¬ 
ially fa5 orahle to the growth of the Russian thistle, since it then 
obtains a thorough foothold in July, and, being able to stand drv 
weather better than other plants, takes comjrlete possession of the 
soil. 
The following remedies are recommended : Plow in .\ugust 
or early September, before the weeds have grown large and stiff, 
and before they ha\e gone to seed. If the season be long and the 
plants come up through the furrow, it may l)e necessarv to harrow 
the land before winter. Burn over stubble lields as soon as possi¬ 
ble after harvest, and cut the stid>ble with a mowing machine if the 
fire does not burn everything clean. If the weeds have been neg¬ 
lected and have grown large and rigid, as thev do bv the middle of 
September, especially on neglected barren fallow, thev mav be raked 
into windrows anil burned. This method is to be reeommended onl\ 
as a final resort, for bv the last of September some of the seed w ill 
be ripe enough to shell out and will escape being burned with the 
plants. Barren fallowing does ver) well if the land is kept barren 
