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EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM 
 
 DIVISION OF BOTANY, 
 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 THE 
 
 RUSSIAN THISTLE 
 
 OB 
 
 EUSSIAN TUMBLE-WEED. 
 
 Published hy direction of the Hon. A. R. Anoeus, Minister of AriRiouLTURE. 
 
 OTTAWA 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU 
 
 1894 
 
 OB 
 
 630,4 
 
 C212 
 
 no 
 
 1894 
 
 •f 
 
Fig. 1. 
 
 Fiff. 3. 
 
 Fig. 1.— A branch of a n'ature plant. Fig. 2. — A vounc stem slinwincr tho naf,,^^ -,f t^u 
 leaves before the flowering period and a .ingle Led enlarged pfg a -Enlarged details of he 
 prickles, the flower and the seed from whicK the seed coat has been removed! 
 
the 
 the 
 
 THE RUSSIAN THISTLE 
 
 OR 
 
 RUSSIAN TUMBLE-WEED. 
 
 {Salsola Kali., L, var. Tragus, ]).C.) 
 
 Undoubted specimens of this terrible pest of the Dakotas and 
 some of the other North-western United States, having been sent 
 to me from Manitoba, the Hon. Minister of Agriculture deems it 
 advisable that a short circular giving a figure of this plant should 
 at once be distributed amongst farmers in Manitoba and the North- 
 west Territories, so that, as far as possible, they may be made 
 aware of its appearance and nature. He also instructs me to im- 
 press upon all the enormous injuries which willsurely follow unless 
 every effort is now put forth to eradicate this pest before it becomes 
 firmly established. The United States Government, as well as those 
 of several of the Northern States, have issued some excellent illus- 
 trated articles on this subject, and large sums of money, amounting 
 now to nearly $2,000,000, have been appropriated to secure the 
 eradication of this weed, which is known to have been the cause of 
 so much loss to farmers in Russia and in the United States. The 
 United States Government has issued a bulletin by Mr. L. H. 
 Dewey, Assistant Botanist of the United States Department of 
 Agriculture, illustrated by figures of the plant in its different stages 
 and :.f the seed enlarged. The Farmer's Advocate, of London, 
 Ont., has wisely published a warning article to Canadian farmers, 
 giving quotations from the above, and reproductions of the figures. 
 The publishers have kindly lent me the figures used in that article 
 for this circular. 
 
 These will serve to draw attention to the plant and show those 
 who have not seen the above articles, what its appearance is. It is 
 not a true thistle, but is a variety of the European Salt-wort, and 
 is related to the lamb's quarters and spinach. It takes its name 
 'thistle" from the fact that, as the seeds ripen, the stems develop 
 at each joint three sharp spines instead of leaves. The spines are 
 described as harder than, and as sharp as, those of the Canada 
 
thistle, HO that farmers have to wrap leather round tlieir horses' 
 legs when cutting grain infested by it. It has now spread over an 
 area of 30,000 square miles, and is abundant and troublesome over 
 two-thirds of that area. Mr. Dewey says in his bulletin : " In the 
 badly-infested areas more than 940,000 acres are devoted to wheat 
 raising. The average loss on this land, which may be attributed 
 to the Russian Thistle alone, cannot be less than five bushels per 
 acre ; and 3,200,000 bushels at the minimum price of 50 cents per 
 bushel (which is considerably less than the average price) indicates 
 a loss to the farmers in the two Dakotas of $1,600,000. The loss 
 in other crops, the injuries caused by the spines, and the fires caused 
 by the plants jumping fire breaks, will l)ring the total loss to some- 
 thing more than $2,000,000 for the year 1892. 
 
 "These figures may seem alarming, but they are based on con- 
 servative estimates. If they are alarming to the farmers, it is 
 well, for it is only when alarmed that most men will take effective 
 measures to avoid danger." 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE WEED. 
 
 The above facts pointing out the possible dangers of allowing 
 this plant to become established in Canada were given in the 
 annual report of the Experimental Farms for the year 1893, at 
 page 192, and western farmers were urged to be on the look-out for 
 so dire an enemy. In consequence of that notice I have received a 
 large number of specimens and inquiries concerning noxious weeds. 
 
 << The Russian Thistle originated in Eastern Europe or Western 
 Asia. It has been known in Russia many years and has quite as 
 bad a reputation in the wheat regions there as it has in the Dakotas. 
 It was introduced in Bon Ilomme county, South D".kota, 
 about fifteen years ago. There is little doubt that it was first 
 brought in very small quantities in flax seed imported from Europe. 
 The few plants, grown from the foreign seed, grew, produced seed, 
 and increased slowly and almost unnoticed until about six years 
 ago (1886). They were then thoroughly acclimated and naturalized 
 and seem to have partaken of the conquering spirit of the West." 
 (Farmers' Bulletin No. 10, U. S. Dep. of Agr.) 
 
 DESCRirTION OF THE WEED. 
 
 Prof. Bessey gives the following description of the plant in 
 Bulletin No. 31, Nebraska Agric. Expert. Station, December 20, 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
I«n3 : liOre or less splierical in shape, and consisting of many 
 elongated branching twigs which grow outward and upward from 
 the root. When not quite mature the whole i)lunt has a reddish 
 colour, but as its seeds ripen it bleaches out and eventually is 
 almost white. Well grown sjjecimens are from two to three feet 
 in diameter, but where crowded together they may be much less. 
 Each twig and branch is covered on all sides by hard, stout, prick- 
 les, which are very sharp and very irritating to the touch. These 
 prickles are in threes, that is, there are three together in a 
 l)lace, and pointing in different directions. At the upper side 
 of the base of each three prickles there is a seed, and as there 
 are about ten of these to each inch, it is easily seen that the 
 seeds produced by every well grown plant must reach a great 
 many thousands. A calculation made with some care showed that 
 a plant examined contained between ten and fifteen thousand seeds 
 Late In the fall and in the early part of winter the root breaks off 
 and the plant is free to roll away with its freight of seeds. The 
 young plant which ap|)ears in May and June does not suggest to 
 the farmer anything of its final form and harmfulness. It is then 
 a soft, smooth and innocent-looking plant, with narrow fleshy 
 leaves an inch long. Its appearance at this stage is well shown 
 by the small branch (a) but when full grown its appearance is like 
 figure 1. This plant blossoms in July and August and its seeds 
 mature in September and October. The seeds are about one-twelfth 
 to one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, of a dull grayish colour. 
 When the thin covering is rubbed off from them they are seen to 
 have a spiral structure as is well shown at fig. 3i." 
 
 STEPS TO BE TAKEN TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF THE PEST. 
 
 This is a matter in which every resident as well as every farmer 
 of the West should interest liimself , as it is only by all co-operating 
 and destroying the weed wherever found that a successful fight 
 against this great evil can be hoped for. 
 
 In the first place let it be understood that the Russian Thistle 
 can certainly be eradicated, if all will co-operate to this end. It is 
 an annual plant and grows from t^^e seed each year. The chief 
 means of distribution is by the wind. During the winter the large 
 plants separate fiom their roots and becoming "tumble-weeds" 
 are blown across the prairie, dropping their seeds wherever they 
 
6 
 
 go. The young plants arc at first soft and weakly, tliey are 
 easily destroyed with a hoe, plough or cultivator, may be either 
 smothered out entirely by a heavy crop or so weakened as not to 
 grow large enough to form tumble-weeds. The seeds germinate 
 freely after ploughing and unlike those of Wild Mustard and some 
 other plants have not the power of retaining their vitality for 
 several years when covered with soil. Therefore as Prof. Hays of 
 Minnesota points out " If all plants large enough to travel before 
 the wind are kept from ripening; the weed will not be liard to 
 eradicate on each farm. 
 
 Waste lands, roadsides, and railway banks should be particularly 
 watched as these are the most likely places for the weed first to 
 occur, and where, undoubtedly, long after the pest has been brought, 
 into subjection in arable lands, some plants will grow to muturity 
 unnoticed and unchecked and then will be blown away from these 
 neglected spots and re-infest fields from which the weed had been 
 thoroughly cleared. AH infested lands, or lands likely to be 
 infested, should as far as is practicable be cultivated till August, 
 after which time, it is said by those who have investigated this 
 subject in the United States, the Russian thistle will not have 
 time to spring up again and mature seeds. 
 
 If it should be found that the seed of this weed fails to ripen in 
 Manitoba and the Territories before harvest, the cuttins of the 
 grain followed by early fall ploughing would to a great extent 
 ensure its destruction in the grain fields and thus materially lessen 
 the labour of keeping it in subjection. 
 
 All seed-grain must be examined carefully and cleaned thoroughly 
 of all weed seed before sowing. 
 
 As all samples may be sent to this Department free of all charges 
 for postage, we hope that farmers every v/here who may find speci- 
 mens of weeds concerning the identity of which they have doubts, 
 will forward them at once to,— The Botanist, Central Experimental 
 Farm Ottawa, for examination and report. 
 
 JAMES FLETCHER, 
 
 JBotanist. 
 WILLIAM SAUNDERS, 
 
 Director. 
 Ottawa, August 1, 1894.