Sec. 4. Pen alty.] Whenever an}- overseer of hijf|i\vay.s 
•(')r road supervisors shall neglect or refuse to comply with the pro¬ 
visions of this act, after having received notice as provided for in 
•Section 3 of this act, lie shall be subject to a fine of liftv (50) dollars, 
aiul it is hereby made the duty of the states attorney to enforce the 
provisions of this act. 
.Sec. 5. Repe.vl.] That an act entitled “An act to prevent 
the spread of noxious weeds in the Territory of Dakota,” General 
Laws of 1S85, Supplement and Chapter io3. Session Laws of 1S90, 
relating to noxious weeds, be and the same is hereby repealed. 
Sec. 6. Emekciency.] Inasmuch as there is no provision 
for the destruction of noxious weeds, and many of said weeds will 
go to seed before Julv ist, therefore this act shall take effect and be 
lin force from and after its passage and approi al. 
Approved March 6, 1891. 
NATIONAL AID EXPFX'TED. 
A measure is now pending in the United States Senate which 
if enacted will make adequate provision for National aid in extermin¬ 
ating this pest, similar to the aid furnished by tbc General Govern¬ 
ment in stamping out pleuro-pneumonia among cattle which was 
recentlv accomplished. Concerning the proposed law and the weed 
to be exterminated, the following extracts from a letter by Mr. 
I'rederick V. Coville, Botanist of the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington, will be read with interest : 
A study of this question for the past two years b}- the De- 
jiartment of Agriculture shows conclusi\ cly that the progress of this 
weed can be stopped only by uniform concerteii action during the 
■same season or seasons over the whole infested area. The faets at 
present in haivd show also that the progress of the Russian thistle is 
rapid, and that if any determined action is to be taken against it it 
■may be <lone far more economically in the immediate future than 
after the expiration of a few years. It is undoubtedh' true that if 
the progress of the weed is not stojjped the damage caused by it in 
future years will annually reach $25,000,000. # # * 
After a careful survey of the whole (piestion of exterminating the 
Russian thistle, I am convinced that b\- such a law as that already 
introduced in the .Senate, * * and by an energetic execu- 
•tion of this law by the Department of Agriculture, in co-operation 
with the State Jaws and .State authorities, the weed would be either 
exterminated or so nearly blotted out as to be easily managed there¬ 
after by local authorities. # # * * 
The Russian thistle is peculiar in some respects, especially in 
the fact that it fails to mature its seed until about the 15th of August 
dn the southern part of its range, and about the ist of Septendier in 
the northern part.. This, in connection with the fact that it is an 
