DESTROYING CANADIAN THISTLES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 596, 4 January 1921, Page 4

DESTROYING CANADIAN THISTLES.

Hoard's Dairyman says:--After the, vcecl has obtained a foothold tho best I way to eradicate it is to prevent it from sending up top or above ground growth, which finally causes the roots to die. Therefore, starve the root by preventing top growth. This is the basic principle which must be .kept in mind. The top of the plant ' serves much the same purpose as the lungs of the animals. If the plant is continually deprived of that part it must soon die. Plant infested land to some crop and give clean cultivation. This method requires unusual persistence, but gives good results. In pastures which can not be cultivated, the best method is to cut each week or ten days just below the surface of the ground." It helps to apply a- little kerosene with oil-can to the cut surface. Applying damp salt to the tops of plants at regular intervals of a week to ten days is very effective. Some farmers succeed by applying moist salt to the cut surface after cutting off the plant. In pastures live stock can be salted on the patch arid help to keeo down the crop. One plan which has given good results in some cases is to seed very heavily to maize or sorghum, using about 801b. of seed per acre. Cut for green feed hay in early, and prepare the land for grass-. If the patch i.i large, plough shallow in early spring and either plough- or disci" each week until late autumn. This method is generally satisfactory if followed by a cultivated crop the following year. The rooty of tho thistles extend deeply down into the soil, hence, for this reason, deep ploughing will be of no avail. . Smothering with straw is rarely successful since the thistles finally grow through it, aside from depriving tho owner from tho ciso of the land for a longer tunc than summer fallow. If the patch is to be smothered with a straw stack, the stack should extend well out over the boundaries of the patch so tlfe plants will not grow out around the edges. In some cases tarred paper has iiocn used for smothering, with good results. Use two parts of crude oil and one of gasoline and spray plants with this mixture or apply it with sprinkling can. This will kill the tops and starve the roots. Patches in small grain in stone piles and waste land when they arc difficult to reach can be treated in this way. There are a number of ways of keeping down top growth. There is no best way for all cases. The farmer should use' the method which best fits his rotation for convenience. About 05 per cent, of the efforts to kill thistles are failures'- because the '■ man tires of the job about the time i hj;» lias the best of the thistles.