THISTLES.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 582, 12 February 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

THISTLES.

Thistles are becoming in many places very plentiful, and the question. ia — shall, or can they bo kept under, or are they to bo left aluru' ? Many of us probably do not like to see them in good paddocks of clover or gras*, but how to keep them away without incurring great expense I know not, neither do I think any ono would, be justified in expending labonr to exlenmSfcve thistle*, supposing he were convinced they would take possession for a year or so. Thistles have proved themselves to- be valuable fertilizers of &011 in other provinces, as well as food for sheep in !on°droughts, aud why should thejr not benefit us in Waikato also. They will increase and for a time take possession ; but if left alone, they will also quickly dio out. I have seen a f^w places where, three yeirs ago, the ground was covered with them, but now there is scarcely any to be seen ; gray} and clover growing more luxuriantly than before the thistles grew there. Some may argue that thistle will ruin many of the furiiiers, or at least, drive their stock off the place for a time ; but such will not be the case, for tlrey wrll have died out in one part of the farm' before th&y cover the land in another. And, moreover, they protect the grass from dry weather during the he;tt of summer, and any ono having a paddock half covered with thistles will carry us many sheep, taking the year through, as it would were it fioe from them. For sheep pasture^ thistles are no doubt an ad vantage, as during the hot weather, they become valuable foe. shade, and it is a very common occurrence to see two or three up to half a dozen sheep taking shade under a full grown thistle; besides this, they protect a great quantity of feed underneath, wheie the sheep and cattle cannot get at when the thistle is in full vigour, which becomes valuable in the autumn and winter after the thistles have begun to wither and decay, which they will do immediately after they seed and ripen. Thistles will aNo destroy fern. I was recently informed by a gentleman in Waikato who had grown a good crop of oats in a piece of land that hud previously been covered with thistle, whereas, as alongside where the thistle had not taken possession and only a tow grow The crop of oats wag not more than half as good and much fern grew as well. It is well known that thistles in other provinces have destroyed feru and prepaied the land for surface Bowing. About two years a_jo I was advised to sow thistle seed, by a member of this club, on laud that had not been broken up ; but, as at that time, J would go u mile to destroy a thibtle. lie could not impress upon me their valuable properties or to comply with his advice. Shortly alter this I t>aw a portion of (ho bWainp owned by Messis Gnce and' Benn aud there to my burprise were many bundled? of acres that h,id been drained a few years pieviuusly, thick with thistles and 1 at once saw theid would be no occasion fur sowing Ihe seed of this plant; especially an the present occupier, who ih a member of this club and a public bonefactor, would allow those luxuriant fertilizers to become fally

developed for the gentle breeze to scatter their soeds over miles in circumference. I have on several occasions visited this piece of land where the thistles grew so thick a ft>w years BJnce, and have ",ecn the result, which is, that they have now almost disappf ired, and the land grows grass and clover more abundantly. During tlie time the thistles were so plentilul, this piece of land taking 1 the year through c-irriecT as many sheep as before the thistles made sin appearance theie. A iiiond of mine was very much annoyed last slimmer on account of his sheep eating the thistle bUHsrm, and thus prevent their spreading, so this season he has not hail any"' sheep en the farm, but whether this is done to give the thistles an opportun ty of increasing of otherwise, perhaps he will at some timo enlighten u.s. . At tb.a conclusion of the Essays, Mr Reynolds stated that he had put himself considerably about to read his paper .that night. Business called, him elsewhere, but in order to set a goodetfample, he had i attended the meeting at some loss to h*niself, and lie hoped others would set a similar example, (Hear, hear.) Mr Clarice said he quite endorsed the remarks of Mr Reynolds in reference to the disparity of labour. E uployersr should do their best to instruct lads in their work. U higher wages Afore to be given, they wanted skilled labour for the work. They wanted to go further back than Mr Keynold's mentioned. Thoy should first ed icate labourers, and then do their best to instruct them in the art of fanning. He maintained that there was an art iv farming, and the art w,is n'fcvet thoroughly loarned. lie could give as a testimony to this fact, that ho knew a man 70 years of age, who said he hid been a farmer most of his life, p.n<\ still h.vl much to learn. Mr \V L Martyn said he had found men come to him looking for work, who wanted to be instiucted in their duties. The uneducated labourers wanted more p.iy than the educated men. Why should he pay them for learning- ? He quite agreed with Mr Reynold^ when he said there should be no fixer! pric,e for labour. Mr Claike had said they rihoulil educate labourers. lfe(Mr Martyn) would like to hear linn explain how that should be done. Mr (31 irk siid -He meant to educite the childiuu , lie did not mean they should be educated as farm servants at the first onset. Ihe JJon livery MeL'e.vu said he thought the laboier was paid in excess .of the production of t\\a country, The employer gave him sufiiuont in four days to supply him a month. The price ,of labor was (5s per day, and meat 3d per lb. The production was low in proportion to the wages paid. That was why the district did not go ahead at the present time. He did not approve of low wages. He would be very sorry to live in any district where the wages were low., Such n dis'tiict never prospered. I?o rfid rot object to the puuo at present paid for intelligent labor, but it was bad for a country where the production tms noi in propoition. They found labor dearer here iv'iere immigrants weie coining into the country, and there was groat cliili'culty iv getting" men to work. Mr Jarre? Tiincir^'.m ■■•aid hr> arrived too late to heai the tfrs^ part of Mr Reynold* rouiiiiks. He, however, quite agrted that it was not desirable to have low wages. At the same time they really paid 25s for eveiy pound they got. He thought &u per day not extravagant but eight hours' work was not an equivalent for tWftt money. He thought they should have nine hours woik for 6s per day. As it was, they soi»etia>es did rot got more than 7 hours labor from' their haiuJ'-i for a day's work. Mr McLean quite agreed with the last speaker ; eight, hours' labor a <?.iy vms ix>t sufficient. His men went to work at eight o'clock, and knocked: off at sis!. Thus he might say men left orf m the middle of the evening. He was a stranger iv the district, otherwise he would not put up with it. Tue rule seamed to , have been established and he did not hl?e to lndko any alteration ; but it was a bad rule. Mr James Runciman stated that the svsteiA of eitjht tours' worE had been mainly introduced' by the (Government, and by the ■ Steam Navigation' Company, who paid- by the hour They charged enormous, prices and could give high wages. When men saw this, thoy natuialFy said they were not going to work for the pay given by miserAble clods of farmers. He kivjw positively of men making from 15s to £l per tf«iy on Mi McLeans swamp, and never less than 10\s per day. Ho was quire aware that men working on the swamp should receive moro pay than farm laborers, but at the sam'o time this kind of labor v+as killiug the people there of legitimate farming- pursuits. The fact of tho matter was they (the farmers) were paying 23s to' get £L Mr Clarke was of opinion that cottages should be elected on their estates for the farm laborers. I>y that me.ms theY would bo able to get men with their families who would not he so movable. He (the speaker)' had cottages on his estate iv « hich his laborers lived, ami during the last I'JS months he had not paid' more than 3(h a week, while hi.s men worked from mx in the morning to six at night. Jlu considered farmers ould not afford to pay Gaaday. If he had to submit to it lie would give up firming. If every one would do something 1 , the diiii'oulty m'io-ht be overcome. Mr W L M irtyu said he had th r e nani" for being a hard man, and perhaps was a hard man, but he paid Ins men better than others were i>.»id, evospt, perhaps swamp hands. Mr lumciinm hid complained about holiday kerpin^. Jle ]iad offered his men a hoiid.i) during Ciuihtmis but they would -iot accept it They said they would rather and get in tho lmv. He believed good masters made "Ootl men and bad m.isteis b>td men. If tiie muster v>cre out of bud at nix- o'clock, ho knew his m'en would ho out befoie him; but if ho laid late in bed, h s men would follo.v his example. He quite concurred in the remarks of tho previous speaker us

to having cottages on their farms. , If a laborer h id to two or three miles to his work ho was tired before h« commenced. The of Thistles wa<* then discussed. Mr John Runciman was of opinion it waa nonsensical t-o try and battle with thihtles. He had spent acoie.s of pounds in trying to keep them down nnd hud signally failed, 1 1 o had seen some 10,000 acres of land in Wanganui covered with them, so that nothing living could get through them. They were 6 feet high, but underneath was such a crop of white clover as he had never before seen. The only plan was to I let tHo thistles have their owrt sway. The lion R McLean related an instance, where, in, Wellington, a friend of his had a larrfe area of land coverod with thistles, and in two years they had choked themselves out almost entirely, and beautiful clover grew i n their place. Mr Buttle proposed a cordial vote of thanks to Mr J, (J Re3 m olds for his interesting paper, which was carried by acclamation. Mr Hunter was proposed as a candidate. Somo discussion took pi aso as to the alteration of the rule fining members for non-attendance, but it was decidod to let (he matter stand over till next meeting. It was arranged for Mr Clarke to giv the next essay, which he announcod would be on the subject of " Riots " and in which he would deal principally with tho mangold wurtzol and turnip, further business of an unimportant nature was gone into and the meeting terminated.