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of the damage inflicted in other states, and a present forcible illus¬ 
tration of the ability of the plant to spread, quickly awakened 
them to the impending danger, and all were resolving to at once 
engage in a war of extermination. But here arose a question: the 
right-of-way along the railroad and along the canal was infested; 
would the railroad and canal corporations take care of the weeds 
on their property? The opinion seemed to prevail that they would 
not, and the farmers were awake to the foct that it would give them 
no permanent relief to exterminate the weed from their farms if 
the plants on neighboring territory were allowed to ripen and pro¬ 
duce their seed. They could care for their own* farms, but were 
neither able nor willing to do more. Immediate action was neces¬ 
sary, because seed would soon be forming. Mr. Newell and his 
colleagues in this case solved the problem; the County Commis¬ 
sioners of Weld County employed a dozen men and set them at 
work, under instructions to continue as long as a plant could be 
found. That the work was thoroughly done I can testify from 
personal inspection, and I desire to hold up this prompt action of 
the Commissioners as a shining example that may well be followed 
by other counties. This energetic action at LaSalle does not, how¬ 
ever, free Weld County from the weed; knowledge of its presence 
came late, and mischief had already been done. Later reports 
show the plant present on farms several miles south and east of 
LaSalle, and also northeast on Crow Creek; the presence of the 
plant on Crow Creek traces directly, as I am credibly informed, to 
alfalfa hay hanled from near LaSalle in the fall of 1893. 
At Longmont the Russian thistle was first noticed this summer 
in three small areas near the Union Pacific depot; these plants, I 
am informed, have been pulled and burned under the direction of 
the Street Commissioner. Later the plant is reported as present on 
several farms near Longmont; but the warning has come in time, 
and as there appear to be no extended areas covered, we may 
reasonably look for its complete extermination from this locality. 
In Arapahoe County the Russian thistle appears to be quite 
well distributed over the eastern portion, and it is very abundant in 
the suburbs on all sides of Denver. We have seen the plant in 
quantity along the tracks of the Kansas Pacific Railroad from York 
street east; on the numerous vacant lots, the roadsides, and ditch 
banks in the district lying east of Gaylord street, between 28th and 
40th avenues; in City Park ; on Capitol Hill, and in several places 
south of the city. On Gaylord street, along the tracks and about 
the terminus of the cable line, it is especially abundant. 
For our information regarding the Russian thistle in the 
Arkansas Valley we are indebted to Mr. F. A. Huntley, Superin¬ 
tendent of the Experiment Station at Rocky Ford, in Otero County. 
Mr. Huntley writes, under date of September 25th : 
