THE THISTLE INVASION.
The whirlgig of time, -which destroys and re -builds empires, makes obsolete and retstorcs fashions, holds the same powerful sway over the growth and direotion of opinions. That which obtained yesterday is dissipated to-day, only to be born again to-morrow, and ao the world wags on. The perusers of this must not be led to expect from the seeming drift of the title and the introduction that we are threatened with an incursion of the decendants of Bruce, but to receive a few plain matter of fact remarks upon a subject which has agitated the minds of the settlers in this district for some years. It is some five or six years sinoa the Scotch thistle began to form a subject of discussion, and at that date the impression appeared to be very general that eradication was the only safe course to be pursued. Whether on account of the scarcity and high price of labour, or owing to the opinion which shortly afterwards gained oredenoe that the thistle instead of being the farmer's enemy was his fastest friend, certain it is that the work of destruction, generally speaking, was stayed. What were the arguments used in favor of the thistle ? Firstly, (we are open to correction) that the roots by penetrating deeply into the earth fertilized it, secondly, that while a tenant of the land it tended in no mean degree to preserve the grass until late in the autumn when it is most needed; thirdly that it would soon render up its title and leavo the soil in good heart ; and fourthly, (a little piling up here) as it would only flourish on good land, it gave, if left alone, a sure indication of the quality of the soil. The trial has been made, and with what result in the generality of cases? Admitting the force of the argument No. 1, which nobody seems to doubt, we have the experience o± thoroughly practical farmers directly opposed to the truth of the two following. In the first place, so far from preserving the finer grasses and clover, the tendency of the thistle is to choke them, while a safe harborage is provided for the coarser kinds of herbage along with aU manner of noxious weeds, and in the sacond place, so far from exhibiting an inclination to quit land after a two or three years' occupation, the lapse of five years finds them as luxuriant as at first, with no signs of evacuating. With regard to the last argument used, it is of course not necessary to say that many better methods are within reach for Dbtaining the knowledge referred to. In the light of these new facts it cannot be wondered that people are asking themselves whether a return to the old idea — sxtermination — would not be wise. The district is well-nigh overrun withthistles> and experiences may vary considerably, and it is solely with a view to excite some interest in the matter that these lines have been penned.
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Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1189, 10 February 1880, Page 3
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503THE THISTLE INVASION. Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1189, 10 February 1880, Page 3
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