1851 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
361 
wherever met with. This plan would, in a few years, 
rid the country of this pest, and nothing else can. 
For, as before remarked, if a single person in a township 
neglect his duty, every farmer in the township will suf¬ 
fer from it. A single plant, left on any farm or road to 
mature its seed, will send the seeds to all the fields for 
miles around. 
The reason why the Canada thistle should be cut off 
close to the ground, and not disturbed in the roots, is, 
the roots, every part and portion of them, are furnished 
with latent wood-buds, which on the roots being cut or 
broken immediately begin to grow, and thus a new plant 
will be found for every piece of root, however small, that 
may be left in the ground. Thus to dig them up is 
simply to multiply them. But, if the roots are not cut 
or broken these latent buds never grow, and the whole 
remains a single plant. Now all plants require the use 
of the leaves; they serve the purpose of lungs; and if 
these are continually destroyed for a sufficient length of 
time the root must perish. Cutting off* the top, the 
whole plant above ground, will accomplish this. I ad¬ 
mit this is merely theory. I have had no experience 
with the Canada thistle. But it is a theory that I do 
not suppose can be refuted by practice. With all other 
plants of this peculiar nature I have found it effectual, 
and with all plants that have not those peculiar roots, a 
single cutting off at the top is certain death. 
Whether the simultaneous movement of all the people 
can be accomplished and by what means, is a question. 
I fear nothing but legislative enactment could do it. 
There are always too many idlers and careless persons in 
all communities to admit of absolute unanimity in volun. 
tary and persevering action in such a work, and nothing 
but such unanimity and action can ever accomplish it. 
Republican as lam, I for one would rejoice to see the 
people forced into their own good by the most strict law 
the legislature is capable of passing, and I do believe the 
legislature of any state in the Union possesses the pow¬ 
er to compel any man in the state to destroy such pests; 
because, those who do not destroy all on or near their 
premises are fostering a nuisance that is highly injurious 
to their neighbors, and this no man has a right to do even 
by the common law. 
I have writen this without knowing whether the sub¬ 
ject lias been sufficiently discussed in the Cultivator of 
late years or not. I presume so interesting a subject 
could not have escaped attention, and most probably all 
the suggestions I have made have already been proposed. 
If so the editor will excuse the trouble I have given him 
and throw these sheets aside. 
The same plan of destruction should be pursued with 
the Oxeye daisey, except that it is infinitely more easy to 
effect the object. In the case of both Canada thistle and 
daisey, the dried plants should be burned, for the seed 
will ripen if either is in bloom at the time it is cut down, 
and if not burned they will be sure to make new and 
extended plantations. 
I also observed at Saratoga Springs, especially in the 
neighborhood of the High Rock Spring, a great abund¬ 
ance of the Conium maculatum, the hemlock of the an¬ 
cients, the deadly poison of all times. At the locality 
indicated, it is permitted to grow even under the win¬ 
dows of the houses, by the roadsides, and in all open 
spaces, and children were playing among the deadly 
plants, as carelessly as if they were among rose bushes. 
It does seem to me that the people should put a 
full stop to this growth. They can easily do so by cut¬ 
ting up and burning the tops while in bloom, two or 
three seasons successively. Yours, Gideon B. Smith. 
Premium Cows in Massachusetts. 
It is of importance to be able to compare the proper¬ 
ties of animals in different sections of the country, in 
order to judge of their relative value. To make a strict¬ 
ly accurate test, it would be necessary that the animals 
should be placed in circumstances precisely similar. If 
the question related to cows, it would be desirable that 
they should be of the same age, should have calved at 
the same time, and should have received the same treat¬ 
ment for several months before the trial commenced, and 
while it was continued. But in the absence of any such 
accurate trials, we must avail ourselves of the results 
of such as make the nearest approximation to the de- 
sired point. With this view, we have taken some pains 
to obtain from the Transactions of the Agricultural 
Societies of Massachusetts , for the year 1850, the fol¬ 
lowing facts in relation to the produce of butter by cows 
which received premiums in various counties in that 
state. We have directed our attention only to the quan¬ 
tity of butter yielded by the different cows, believing 
that to be the fairest indication of their value. Pre¬ 
miums were in many instances, awarded for the quanti¬ 
ty of milk which the cows gave, in a specified time, but 
we have generally omitted any mention of these, as, ex¬ 
cept in cases where milk is sold, the test affords no re- 
liable criterion of value. In many instances, neither 
the breed or age of the cow is mentioned in the re¬ 
ports; but we have given them where practicable, and 
also the time of their calving. The keeping of the cows 
was generally pasture feed only. It is not necessary to 
say that this varies greatly in value, according to the 
amount and nutritiveness of the herbage; at the same 
time it is no more than just to say that the pastures of 
Massachusetts will not compare in luxuriance with those 
of New-York, or some other sections. 
Warren Averill, Ipswich, exhibited two cows at the 
Essex county show. One of them, from January 1st to 
May 20th, 1850—(140 days,) yielded 198lbs. of butter. 
During this time it took eight quarts of her milk for a 
pound of butter; the last week in June, it took a trifle 
short of eight quarts to the pound. Another cow, 
owned by the same person, five years old, ( u native,”) 
calved August 27th, 1850, gave from 18th to 25th of 
September, (one week,) 111 quarts of milk, which af¬ 
forded 12 lbs. of butter. 
Wm. S. Lincoln, Worcester,—cow eight years old— 
calved April 80th, 1850. From June 1st to 9th, afford¬ 
ed 17 lbs. 12 oz. of butter. The same cow gave in the 
first nine days of Sept., 12 lbs. 12 oz. butter. She also 
gave from May 16th to Sept. 10th, (117 days,) 170 lbs. 
12 oz. butter. Gave in “ flush of feed,” 16 quarts of 
milk daily. 
John N. Whitney, Princeton^—cow six years old; 
calved March 20th, 1850. From June 1st to 9th, gave 
15 lbs. 12 oz. butter, and from September 1st to 9th, 
