Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1894 — CRUSH OUT THE PEST. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CRUSH OUT THE PEST.

ADVICE TO FARMERS REGARDING THE RUSSIAN THISTLE. Djly Weed That Threatens to Choke the Grain Industry In the Northwest—lt Bolls Like a Ball, Scattering Millions o! Hardy Seeds. now to Exterminate It. A party of Russian immigrants, twenty years ago, entered the welcoming door of Castle Garden, followed the trail of home-seekers half way across a continent, took possession of fovernment land in Bonhomme county, outh Dakota, and, opening the Old World grain sacks, let loose a nest that cow threatens the agricultural prosperity of the prairie region of the United States. They brought the Russian thistle. Its seed was mixed up with that of flax, from which they were unable to separate it. Bonhomme County is nearly in the center of the enormous agricultural territory em-

bracing the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, lowa, Kansas, and Eastern Colorado. It is one of the southern tier of counties, being separated from Nebraska by the Missouri River, and is the third tier west from the Big Sioux River,the boundary line I etween South Dakota and . Minnesota. The land in this section is rather hilly; corn is the chief crop raised, consequently owing to the wooded ravines and standing corn stalks the thistle was at first somewhat slow in spreading. In five years it had taken root in the counties north, east, and west of Bonhomme; by 1888 it had infested the southern tier of counties in North Dakota, had entered Minnesota, and proceeded west to the Missouri River. In 18i>0 it jumped south across the wide stretch of the Missouri, and the following season traversed the fields of Northeastern Nebraska, sowing disaster in its path. Since that timo the weed has been steadily spreading until now all of tho counties of South Dakota east of the Missouri River, twenty counties in North Dakota, two counties in Western

Minnesota, and four in Northeastern Nebraska are thoroughly infested. Altogether this makes one almo t continuous area of about 35,C0D square miles more or less covered with the Russian thistle in the comparatively brief period of twenty years. In addition it has made its appearance in many isolated localities along the railroads as far west as Denver, Colo., south to Kansas and the southern border of Nebraska, east as far as Madison and Whitewater, Wis., Hammond, Ind., and at two points in Illinois, Polo and St. Charles. The Secretary of Agriculture reports that the rapidity with which the Russian thistle has spread, both in infesting new territory aud in thoroughly covering that already infested, far exceeds that of any other weed known in America. Few cultivated plants even, which are intentionally introduced and intentionally disseminated, have a record for rapidity of distribution equal to that of this weed. It already nas earned damage to the amount of several million dollars. Known as a Cactus.

The plant is known in North Dakota as the Russian cactus. It is neither a thistle nor a cactus, and is not even closely related to either of these groups of plants. The technical name by which it is known to scientists of all countries is salsola kali tragus. The popular title, Russian thistle, is known and accepted, however, by all who are familiar with the plant When the first specimens were received by the United States Department of Agriculture they were supposed to be tHe common saltwart (salsoJa kali) of the Atlantic coast, and were so described in several botanical publications. More careful examination soon showed this to bo aD error, as the salsola kali has teen known along the eastern coast from Massachusetts to Georgia for nearly a century and has never developed into a troublesome weed. In May and June the 6eeds germinate, each sending up on a slender red stem two narrow green leaves about an inch long and qui e similar to shoots of grass. Between these seed-leaves a short stem soon appears bearing slender spine tipped leaves which later produce branches in their axils. These young shoots are tender and juicy, and are accepted as food by all classes of ,farm cattle, hogs, in parties ular, bating them greedily. But after the plant becomes tough no animal Will touch it It blossom? in July or August, the seeds maturing in September apd October. An bvprage specimen reaches a height of twenty inches or two feet. The width is much greater, being four or five feet across. The shape is that of a sphere much flattened on the upper ao4 lower sides. It forms a dense, prickly mass usually capable of filling a Space four or five feet Sduare. The

thorn-covered branches are so dense that it is impossible to pass the hand to the oenter of the plant. It resembles the tumble weed in appearance, but is muoh larger and not as compactly knit together. The color is a dark green approaching blue, striped with red, giving the entire thistle a crimson tint. A single, small, green, stemless flower grows in a cup- haped depression formed by the bases of the leaves. The leaves are small, but each of the numerous branches bears a multitude of them and eaeh one of the multitude is pointed with a sharp, stinging barb. A single plant of average size and weighing two or three pounds at maturity, when dry, is estimated to bear from 20,000 to 30,0iM> seeds. Single plants have been found six feet in diameter, weighing about twenty pounds when thoroughly dry and estimated to boar 200,000 seeds. At maturity the heaviest and strongest parts of the plant are the seed-bearing twigs. The inner branches receive little of the wear incident to tumbling about and are only sufficiently strong to hold the plant together.

With the first touches of autumn frost the plant, all except the seed, dies and Dreaks off from the root. Then the round mass of fiber, seed, and barb starts on a wild whirligig, flying before tho prairie winds, rolling, jumping and tumbling like a sensate and maddened creature, ani unless I held captive in some cornfield or fencecorner infests each rod of earth with which it comes in contact with its prolific germ. The seed is inclosed in a paper-like Bheath, and together with this is loosely held in place with numerous twisted hairs, so that it is not readily shaken loose from the plant. Tfie thistle may consequently roll about all winter and still retain some of its seed until the following spring. The railroads aro one of tho most prominent iactors in tho transportation of the seeds over long distances. The Government authorities claim there is every evidence that they are often carried to uninfected regions in the bedding or litter of stook cars. These cars are sent to tho stock yards of Minneapolis, Chicago, Omaha or Sioux City, but after unloading they are seldom cleaned at these places. They are sent with the litter and seeds to various shipping points, where they are cleaned il the amount of tho dirt or the nature of the cargo domands it Rolling plants are sometimes blown into the trucks under the cars and into crevioes An machinery and are thus carried about the country. Grnwi In Any Soil. The thistle grows best on high, dry soil, but it does not despise a foothold in the earth of any character. It is seldom seen in sloughs or lowlands, but they grow on sand hanks in the Missouri River, where the iand is so often submerged that other weeds do npt flourish. In fact, the character of the soil appears to he a matter of indifference to the thistle: it grows oqually well in the alkali districts or in the soil free from alkali. it doos pot take root on the wild prairie, but the seed lies in ambush in the grass; when the farmer turns over the ground in his fall breaking tho unsuspected enemy obtains a footing, the following spring it sprouts nod an abundant crop of thistles crowds every thing else from the field. The most serious damago done by the thistles is among tho small grains,

they grow up in enormous bunches and crowd out tne wheat, oats, flax, or whatever has been sown. Patches of thistles ten feet square may be seen scattered all through a wheat field: in harvesting horses will not walk through the?e thickets unless their legs are protected in some manner. The thistle is particularly ruinous to crops planted late in the spring, or checked by early drought; the thistle, growing at its best in dry weather, crowds or starves out many of the weakened plants, and the grade of those that survive is seriously lowered. The crops of ’ll3 in many flax fields and some wheat land was left standing as not worth harvesting. This year the injury is much more severe. The smallest amount of damage is done to corn and potatoes for two reasons; one is that the thistles can be plowed up in cultivating these products, and the other that these plants are nearly mature before the thistles attain a large size. They cause great difficulty in running harvesting machinery. In many places binders cannot be operated at all, and even headers are used with extreme trouble. The large, rigid weeds interfere with plowing and continually clog harrows and cultivators. It was hoped for some years by persons in authority that the Russian thistle might die out naturally, but the facts indicate no such possibility.

Many farmers of the Northwest believe the thistle cannot be exterminated. Borne farms are entirely abandoned to it, the owners giving up in despair. But more conservative men while it will be necessary to wage a continual battle with the plant, a vigilant and energetic farmer will

be able to control it, although they acknowledge it brings certain ruin to a careless one. There is at present no organized effort to wipe the pest out of existence. Farmers who succeed in keeping tLem from their fields permit them to grow at will on the edges of plowed land and in the roads. They fill up the fresh breaking, the fence corners, and the fire-breaks. Along the railroad grades they are encroaching with a rapidity that implies full possesion for the thistles and s neglect of the weed law by the railroad corporations. Eoth North and South Dakota have enacted laws to prevent the spresd of the Russian thistle, but it appears to belong to the class of evils thatcannot be legislated out of existence. When a landowner fails to destroy the weed on his property the overseer of highways is instructed te have the task per* formed and to levy a tax upon the land to reimburse the county. Tho only effective manner in whif’h to oppose the thistle seems to be to hoe it down before it matures. To plow it under after the seeds ripen is worse than useless, as the farmer only perpetuates the curse in his own soil. If raked with a h irse-raxe or cut by a reaper some seed will be left to continue the work. Even burning over the soil does not effect a complete eradication. Farmers, are advised to kill th 3 pest on sight, and keep up the good work without ceasing.

RUSSIAN THISTLE IN NORTH DAKOTA.

MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF THE RUSSIAN THISTLE

THE RUSSIAN THISTLE.