1911. 
855 
HOW CANADA THISTLES ARE KILLED. 
.1. S. Woodward says in his article ‘ Ticking Out a 
Farm" that he soon got rid of the Canada thistle. I have 
bought a farm that is thoroughly infested, and I would 
like to have Mr. Woodward explain his method in getting 
rid of the plant. Other readers also would no doubt 
appreciate a real remedy. h. a. c. 
Brookfield Center, Conn. 
I used to have a holy horror of Canada thistles, 
quack grass, etc., but when you know how to 
get rid of them, it is only fun to combat them. 
When our friends of the experiment stations want 
to rid the orchards of any pest, the sensible thing 
they do is first to study its life history—to know all 
about it. The same is true of the Canada thistle. 
Canada thistle, potatoes and artichokes are all some¬ 
what alike, in that in one year they store up sub¬ 
stance on which the first growth is made the succeed¬ 
ing year. When we plant a . piece of potato what we 
put into the ground furnishes food for growth until 
the leaves are sufficiently developed to digest what is 
taken from the soil and air to fit it for further growth. 
About the time the blossoms appear certain root 
stalks (rhizomes) start out, and on these the potatoes 
are produced. If we were to commence when the 
shoots first appear above ground and pull or cut them 
off, others would at once come up, and we might 
continue to take their place, and this would only 
weaken the seed pieces, but not cease until the seed 
piece is entirely exhausted. The difference between 
the potato and Canada thistle is that while frost kills 
the potato it does not injure the part of the thistle 
that answers the purpose of storing nutriment one 
season for first growth the next. Winter only kills 
the annual growth of the thistle, but does not injure 
the parts that perpetuate the plant. 
These are those large running roots 
(rhizomes) that permeate the soil in 
every direction, and these are as full 
of sustenance for future growth as an 
equal amount of the potato, and these 
are jointed every few inches, which 
answers to the eyes of the potato, and 
from each joint or eye as soon as 
warm weather comes growth starts in 
an upright shoot from more or less of 
these eyes. As soon as the leaves are 
full grown they begin to elaborate food 
for a continuation of growth. These 
underground stems are not true roots, 
and do nothing towards the growth of 
the thistle except to furnish food for 
the young plant. The true roots start 
from and develop around the upright 
shoots. 
If we pull or cut these shoots as soon 
as they reach the surface, others at 
once come from these underground 
stems to take the place of those de¬ 
stroyed, and we may continue to cut 
or pull all Summer without exhausting 
the store. Up to the blossoming of the 
plant the top has furnished little or no 
food for continued growth. The treat¬ 
ment we gave that field was as follows and is the 
way to kill Canada thistle: Have the field well seeded 
tc clover if possible. Let thistles grow until beginning 
to bloom, and cut for hay, and by the way, if cut at 
this stage of growth and well cured they make better 
fodder than Timothy, especially for sheep. When hay 
is off apply a dressing of land plaster, and as soon as 
clover is from six inches to a foot high, plow the field, 
do not “cut and cover,” but plow it, being sure to turn 
it all over. Follow at once with roller and harrow so 
as to bury the thistles entirely. Follow during the 
balance of the Summer with some style of cultivator 
with broad teeth. Keep them sharp, and the next day 
after cultivating go over with a hoe and be sure to 
cut off every thistle that has escaped the cultivator. 
Do this so often that no thistle is allowed to get a 
full leaf. If this is thoroughly and carefully done 
until snow falls, no thistle will ever show that does 
not come from a seed. This may seem a big job, but 
it is not, for the first growth will have nearly ex¬ 
hausted the store of food, so that but few thistles will 
come after the haying, and these will look yellow and 
be feeble, and each time of cultivating will greatly 
lessen the number until none will come. I am so sure 
of the success of this plan that I will take any patch 
of Canada thistles and treat it and contract to pay a 
dollar apiece for every thistle that comes after treat¬ 
ment except from seed. But the success depends upon 
thoroughness; no slipshod, half-way method will do it. 
j. s. WOODWARD. 
R. N.-Y.—The importance this weed has assumed 
may be noted in Prof. Pammers “Weeds of the 
Farm and Garden,” where the Canada thistle is re¬ 
ferred to on 32 different pages. It is also subject to 
restrictive legislation. 
TH US RURAL NEW-YORKER ' 
STORY OF A HYBRID VERMONT FARM. 
Ours, I think, might be called a hybrid farm, as it 
is a mixture consisting of a 30-cow dairy, apples, 
pears, small fruit, vegetables, etc., chickens and fowls, 
also home baking. We have at present 13 in the fam¬ 
ily, all workers, and 11 of them between 16 and 27 
years of age. Our eldest boy is a graduate of Ver¬ 
mont Agricultural College,*and Yale, Tufts and Am¬ 
herst contribute to the working force. Horace 
Greeley worked for the writer’s grandfather on this 
farm nearly 100 years ago. Several of New York’s 
good business men have taken the influence of the 
old farm with them, and we hope to keep the" soil in 
condition to grow more crops of the same kind. Our 
experience with student help has been very satisfac¬ 
tory. The vacation comes at a time when we need 
help, and together with our five young people, every¬ 
one seems to have a good time. 
At 5 a. m. Saturday, July 22, the cows came in 
from night pasture and were milked, while some of 
the force were getting the two wagons loaded for the 
day’s retail trade. One team goes to a Summer re¬ 
sort six miles away that is said .to have 166 cottages 
besides hotels. They take one side of the lake every 
other day. The other wagon sells in our village of 
2,000 people, practically the year around. We take 
advertising space in our local paper by the year, and 
the enclosed advertisement, Fig. 335, shows what the 
wagons have this day. In addition the lake team 
carries cakes and doughnuts that are not like bakers’ 
goods in quality or price. The cooking is also sold 
in three grocery stores. Not many farmers’ wives 
would care to undertake that work, but Mrs. Sheldon 
appreciates the letters that come once in awhile from 
a young woman formerly in her employ, whose hus¬ 
band gave up his unprofitable team work, and to¬ 
gether they have paid for a home worth several 
thousand dollars with the home baking. The teams 
are a little late in starting, as the corn is young and 
must be selected carefully, but we know no competi¬ 
tors can send out loads like ours, and are sure of our 
customers. About eight o’clock they are under way, 
also another team with the milk to the shipping sta¬ 
tion three miles away. This team also carries some 
special orders. Two cultivators are working during 
the forenoon in the silo corn. We lost $5 a few days 
ago in transplanting turnip plants on ground where 
early peas had been plowed under, as the sun killed 
them before night. To-day three men put in seed. It 
is rather late for rutabagas, but if we get rain may 
get a crop. 
Black Mexican sweet corn is a favorite with us 
for selling or feeding green, but goes by very quickly. 
Now we plant about July 1, and if it escapes frost it 
keeps in condition longer in the cool Fall weather. 
To-day we sow White Globe turnip broadcast in an 
acre of the corn. There are four extra helpers to¬ 
day, two of them women. As it is Saturday, the 
half-acre of raspberries must be gone over. The 
Cuthbert nearly all winter-killed. The Shaffer and 
Columbian would do well with rain, but at noon we 
have less than one bushel where last year we had 
five or six. They bring 20 cents per quart. After 
dinner 16-year-old Marjorie harnesses a span of 
Morgan driving horses, takes the berries, picks up a 
girl friend, and is on her way to overtake the delivery 
team at the lake. The story of that team is about as 
full of romance as one of E. G. Lewis’ fairy tales, 
only this story shows up another side of human 
nature. They were sent to us recently from western 
New York, by a gentleman and lady who were 
strangers to us. The lady could no longer make use 
of them. She had heard of our girl’s love for horses, 
through a mutual friend, and asked us to accept the 
beautiful team. Do you wonder that we are a bit 
proud of the horses, and yet more pleased that the 
lady chose Valley Farm as a home for her pets? But 
the girl is more or less of a fraud, as every day since 
the pastures are so dry I see her riding down the 
road toward a pasture where there is a superannuated 
horse, and I get no answer when I call to know what 
that swelling is that just shows on her farther side, 
but I think the old horse could tell. 
But to get back to our job. The day help quit at 
noon. One team mowing oats all the afternoon for 
hay; as they are a little rusty, and as hay will be 
high we think that way the most profitable. The hen 
boy, when preparing 13 broilers and hens for market 
the night before, found a few lice, so he puts in the 
afternoon spraying. A load of cake goes to town, also 
orders that have been ’phoned in. The men quit early 
and clean up litter that has accumulated around the 
yard; would mow the lawn if any grass were grow¬ 
ing. The team from the village gets in at 5 p. m.; 
from the lake at seven. Some of the young people go 
to town to hear the band concert, and they correct a 
mistake that was made in the rush of orders, when a 
bag of horse feed instead of peas was sent to a cus¬ 
tomer. The accounts for the day are made up. The 
practical failure of two acres of strawberries is spoken 
of, also the total failure of cherries and currants and 
the light crop of apples and pears, but a good crop of 
plums, and they wonder if the farm will break even 
this trying year; congratulate them¬ 
selves that the disturbance in agricul¬ 
tural conditions kept them from buying 
an auto delivery truck last Spring, and 
then “good night.” l. h. sheldon. 
Vermont. 
THE TREE AGENT’S SIDE. 
I have just been reading your article 
entitled “An Order for Nursery Stock,” 
page 783, and it seems to me that you 
have looked at the matter of Mr. Ten 
Eyck's request for a cancellation en¬ 
tirely from that gentleman’s side. That 
is, you do not “give the devil his due” 
entirely. I take it that when Mr. Ten 
Eyck wrote to the nursery firm in re¬ 
gard to cancelling his order, he wrote 
about as follows: “Dear Sir: 1 have 
sold out and can’t use the trees I or¬ 
dered of your agent. Please cancel the 
order, and at some future date I will 
give you a much .larger order.” This 
is the way 99 persons out of 100 word 
such letters. And further, it is only 
about one case in 100 where the person 
writing for a cancellation has actually 
“sold out.” Many of the men selling 
nursery stock ( I refer to perfectly reli¬ 
able men working for reliable nursery firms) require 
“advance” on their sales each week to pay their living 
expenses—their own and their families. The nursery¬ 
man is the man who puts up this money, with the 
expectation that he will recover same on the delivery 
of stock sold by the agent. No doubt the nursery 
made “advance” on this order of Mr. Ten Eyck’s, anji 
it seems to the writer that the proper thing for Mr, 
Ten Eyck to have written would be about as follows: 
“Dear Sirs: Owing to the fact that I have sold my 
place I find that I shall be unable to use the stock I 
ordered of your agent—Mr. Blank. I therefore wish 
to ask you to cancel same. Realizing, however, that 
you have probably been put to some exj>ense in obtain¬ 
ing my order, I wish to state that I am willing to re¬ 
pay you for any outlay you may have made.” Had Mr. 
Ten Eyck written as I have suggested, I shall 
wager that he would have had no difficulty in adjust¬ 
ing matter. As I am connected with a reliable nursery- 
firm and handle many such cases in the course of a 
year, I “know whereof I speak.” chas. broyles. 
Indiana. 
R. N.-Y.—We are willing to give all sides a fair 
hearing. If Mr. Broyles has not given the “devil” his 
full due opportunity is offered to complete it. What 
we objected to was the practice of the nursery firm to 
“pay no attention” to such letters, but to force the 
goods upon the buyer. We know that other firms do 
not practice that policy. Do we understand that nur¬ 
serymen pay their agents a commission on sales in 
advance and stand all loss or failure to collect? We 
doubt it. If so, the business is different from any 
cther we ever heard of. This may account for the 
fact that tree agent’s prices are 50 per cent or more 
above those for similar goods, sold by mail order. 
MAN’S MOST FAITHFUL FRIEND. Fig. 336. (Seepage 869.) 
