THISTLE. 
Thistles are vastly less troublesome on grass 
lands than on arable lands; and when any of the 
most common kinds are once eradicated thence, 
and kept from growing and seeding along the 
hedges and ditches, they seldom give any fur- 
ther annoyance. Their seeds do not readily 
vegetate unless on any soil which is not loose; 
and are so much and greedily sought after by 
little birds, that they rarely lie long enough to 
germinate, especially in the early part of winter, 
except when wholly or partially covered with 
earth. The.common carline thistle, the centaury 
star thistle, and the stemless plume-thistle infest 
pastures with sandy or calcareous soils oftener 
than loamy or clayey grass lands; and, whenever 
they greatly prevail, they cannot be effectually 
subdued by any operation short of breaking up 
the land and subjecting it to a course of crops. 
The marsh plume-thistle, the various -leaved 
plume-thistle, and the meadow- plume thistle 
prevail most in loamy and clayey soils ; and must 
be dealt with in the manner of other perennial 
thistles. All annual and biennial thistles, on 
whatever kind of land they grow, may be readily 
subdued by either carefully pulling all up before 
they run to seed, or frequently mowing them over 
close to the surface, and rolling. 
The removal of thistles from arable land under 
drilled crops, is more or less fully effected, in 
ordinary circumstances, by the operation of the 
horse-hoe; but the weeding of them out of broad- 
cast crops, can only be done by manual operation, 
andis much more difficult. Thecommon kinds may 
be destroyed by means of weeding pincers, or by 
pulling them up between the finger and the thumb 
from loose soil, or by cutting them over in the 
bleeding season, and applying a little salt to the 
stumps of the cut stems; but some of the peren- 
nial kinds, in consequence of their living roots or 
rootlets remaining in the ground, and throwing 
out new shoots or stems every year, can, in many 
instances, be effectually or even tolerably sub- 
dued only by deep ploughing and frequent har- 
rowings, or by subjecting the land to a complete 
summer fallow, or by laying it down to grass. 
Hither the stemless plume-thistle or any similar 
species, which infests sainfoin, lucern, or any 
other crop of a protecting and overshadowing 
character, may be reduced by the application of 
a little salt to the crown of each plant. The 
application of salt, in fact, has sometimes been 
proclaimed as a panacea against all thistles ; and, 
whenever tried, the salt should be laid on the 
centre of the thistle, with the finger and the 
thumb, to the amount of about a teaspoonful to 
each plant, at some time before the thistle has 
attained a large size; and, in the course of a day 
or two, the plant may turn black, and in the 
course of nine or ten days will die down to the 
root. The best time for eradicating perennial 
thistles on any piece of ground which they have 
long infested is when they are in full bloom and 
beginning to form their seed. 
431 
THISTLE (Carus). See Caruine Turstur. 
THISTLE (Corton). See Corton Tuistux. 
_ THISTLE (Puume). A large group of cardu- 
aceous plants, of the true thistle tribe. It was 
formerly identified with the old genus Cnicus,— 
a genus which modern botanists have broken up, 
and distributed among the genera cirsium, leuzea, 
rhapontica, silybum, and serratula; and it may 
now be regarded as not far from being identified 
with the genus Cirsium, to which the major por- 
tion of the cnicuses have been assigned. See the 
article Crrstum. All the plume thistles are prickly 
herbaceous plants, differing from the true this- 
tles principally in their down being not merely 
rough but evidently feathery; and some have 
decurrent leaves, and red or purple subsolitary 
flowers,—others, decurrent leaves, and pink or pur- 
ple aggregate flowers,—others, sessile leaves, and 
purple subsolitary flowers,—others, sessile leaves, 
and purple aggregate flowers,—and others, ses- 
sile leaves, and white or yellow flowers,—though 
no species of either of the last two of these sub- 
divisions grows wild in Britain. 
The common or spear plume thistle, Cirsium 
lanceolatum, is a biennial indigen of the road- | 
sides, banks, and waste grounds of most parts of 
Britain. Its stem is 3 or 4 feet high; its leaves | 
are decurrent; and its flowers are purple and 
subsolitary, and bloom from June till Septem- 
ber.—The marsh plume thistle, Cirsium palustre, 
is a biennial indigen of the moist meadows, the 
moist pastures, and moist spots of the road-sides 
of Britain. Its stem is from 3 to 6 feet high; 
its leaves are decurrent; and its flowers are 
purple and aggregate, and bloom in July and 
August.—The meadow or English plume thistle, 
Cirsium pratense or Cirsium anglicum, is a peren- | 
nial-rooted indigen of low meadows and pastures, 
particularly among trees, in various parts of 
Britain. Its root is fibrous; its stem is 3 or 4 
feet high; its leaves are sessile; and its flowers 
are purple and subsolitary, and bloom in June.— 
The tuberous plume thistle, Cirsiwm tuberosum, is 
a perennial-rooted indigen of the woods of some 
parts of England. Its stem is 3 or 4 feet high; its 
leaves are sessile; and its flowers are purple and 
subsolitary,and bloom from August till October.— 
The wool-bearing or wool-headed plume thistle, 
Cirsium ertophorum, is a biennial indigen of the 
road-sides and waste mountainous grounds of 
the calcareous districts of Britain. Its stem is 
4 or 5 feet high, and, together with its foliage, 
gives the plant a massive and conspicuous ap- 
pearance; its leaves are sessile; and its flowers 
are purple and subsolitary, and bloom in July 
and August.—The various-leaved or melancholy 
plume thistle, Cirsium heterophyllum, is a peren- 
nial-rooted indigen of the moist mountainous 
pastures of Scotland and the north of England. 
Its stem is about 2 feet high; its leaves are ses- 
sile; and its flowers are purple and subsolitary, 
and bloom in July and August.—The corn or 
way or creeping plume thistle, Cirsium arvense, 
a eee reer 
