.N 
ritory, and the most approved methoils of comhatiii"- its further 
spread and of eradicatinj>' it from infected lands. 
This committee, after considerable time spent in gathtM-in<j 
information, made its report on F'ehriiarv 17, 1S94, having in the 
meantime sent through tlie (iovernor a memorial to Congress, urging 
the passage of the Hansbrough hill, which proposes to appropriate 
money from the National treasury to he expended under the direc¬ 
tion of the Secretary of Agriculture in the effort to exterminate the 
pest. 
The I'eport of the Cactus committee to the Commissioner of 
Agriculture and Labor is as follows : 
l!i:i‘()|{T OK TIIK Kt’SSlA.X CACTI’S COM.MITTEK. 
To the Honorable Commissioner of Agricnltnrc and Labor, State 
of A^orth Dakota: 
On the ninth day of No\emher, 1S93, ^ convention of the 
citizens of North Dakota assembled in the town of LaMoure, bv call 
of (Jovernor .Shortridge, for the i)urp()se of obtaining information 
concerning the spread of a lecently intnxluced weed known as the 
Russian cactus; and of devising if possible means and methods for 
its ultimate destruction. 
Hy direction of said com ention a committee of five, consisting 
of Dr. ^i. F. Merchant,TIon. Lyman R. Casey, Hon'. 11 . H. 01 i\er, 
j. M. Devine and \Vm. J. Dwyer, was appointed bv the Governor, 
with instructions to collect all the facts and statistics bctiring upon 
the spread of and ilamage caused by said cactus to the crop of 1893; 
and further, to ascertain aiul devise methods which ha\ e been found 
useful or are likely to prove successful in checking and exterminat¬ 
ing the plant where now existing in the state; and to make a final 
report of such information to the State Commissioner of Agriculture 
and Labor; also, to draft a memorial to Congress soliciting National 
aid. 
The memorial was duly prepared and forwarded to the Go\-- 
ernor for his appro\ al and final transmittal to Congress. 
In the preparation of this report many delays have been en¬ 
countered ; but I herewith transmit to vou such information as we 
ha\ e been able to obtain from responses to inquiries sent out bv our 
secretary, j. M. Devine, to the officials of the .several cactus infested 
counties, together with other material facts obtained from competent 
observers. 
The plant so commoidy known as Russian cactus, or Russian 
thistle, from its foreign origin and spinv nature, is not at all related 
to the Cactaceae, but belongs to the Amaranih familv, of which our 
tumble weed is a familiar representative. Its true botanical name is 
Sa/sola kail, var. tragns, D. C., commonly known as saltwort, 
from the abundance of alkaline salts the plant contains in its tissues. 
4 
