THE CALIFORNIAN THISTLE IN NORTH CANTERBURY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1774, 23 February 1888, Page 3

THE CALIFORNIAN THISTLE IN NORTH CANTERBURY

THE WAY TO DEAL WITH THE PEST

The Ohrlstchutcn " Press " reports that patches of the Callfortlaq thistle have been noticed m the Eyreton road district on ft farm at KsUpol Island, one or two farms at Eyre ton, and at the Ohoks. The efforta whjoh have been made to. eradicate It by Mr Marmaduke Dixon, at Eyreton, by the uso of salt some months since proved quUe successful on a patch 14ft square. After mowing off a thistle, a owt of bscon-carera' s»U, which probably contained a percentage of saltpetre, was liberelly Applied, and the spot is at present qalte bare of any vegetation. On the island Mr Merrip, who ocnaiders he has a small pleoe of land covered with them, has tried ploughing without success, but now experimenting with an alkali P&fcb he hopes will prove Bucooaßfal Mr J GSr»y ; at Eyreton, has cut them down on his land snd afterwards kept the tbi'tle from spreading by hoeing it In dry weather. There are two farms on Jac I'son's1 ' son's road and the Tram road respectively at Ohoka which are badiy infested with the weed, and whore steps should be taken to effect eradication. Upon one of them there has been some chains square covered with thistles for some six years past, bat they did not seem to spread much till of late. It Is evident the seeds are maturlrg, probably through the activity of the bumble bees. It has been pointed out by an experienced farmer that catting thistleßon a wet day is an effective way of getting rid of them. His theory is that the rainwater falling on to the stump of the thistle, which is left m the ground, Is drawn by the rootti of the plant into the system of capillary vessels, which before cutting connected the root with the upper part of the plant, and the water thus received Into the root serves aa a poison and destroys it. He maintains that to cot the thistle m dry weather Is on the other hand not effective, for the reason that the fluid from the wound caused by the cutting seals over, and new life springs again close to tbe surface of the ground. Be reminds ni that on some of the farms of the Old Country It was a regular thing on a wet day, when other operations were suspended, for the farm hands to be turned out with leggings, a sack over thu 'head and shoulders, and a scythe to cut the this lee.