The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1913-06-13
THE RUSSIAN THISTLE

lie RUSSIAN thistle, one of the
greatest weed pests of the country,
is not a thistle at all but member
OF the same family Of plants as is
the weed we know as lambs quarter
or pigweed which is used by many
for greens" in the spring.
l wonder sometimes whether any
one has ever tried to use the Russian
thistle in the same way. At GER
tain stage of growth it is quite sue
culent and is relished by all kinds
OF stock; why not by humans?
This pest was introduced from
the steppes OF Russia some % years
ago and rapidly took possession of
the country. In the history of
weed pests / think there has been
nothing like it. The rapidity with
which it spread was unparalleled
notwithstanding the efforts made to
check it. The legislatures of some
states in the semi.arid regions of
the Middle West made it the duty
OF the farmers, under penalty, to
see that it did not get foot-hold
on their places; and the road sup
ervisors, also under penalty, were to
see that it was kept out of the roads
and that the farmers kept it from
seeding Oh their lands.
It was said that when it got a
hold in the fields it would be i'm
possible to pillow or drive through
them, as the thorns would so tear
the horses legs as to soon put them
out of commission.
But the weed seemed to laugh at
the puny efforts of man to stop its
conquering advance. Nature had
made a special provision for it.
In its fight for survival liz it's arid
birthplace it had evolved into the
most perfect of tumble weeds"
Its dense bushy form, its tough
fibrous structure when mature, the
habit which the tips of the branches
got of turning inward and upward
as it dried Oh its stem, the protec-
ton given it from being eaten by
stock by the development of its
hard and sharp spines, and the fact
that in the early winter it was easily
broken from it's root at the surface
of the ground, made it an ideal OBJ
ject to become the sport of the
winds.
So when a single plant escaped
the attention of the not too vigjlant
farmer, in due time it went bowl
ing over the fields borne on the
wings of the wind, and scattered all
along its course of many miles its
millions of seeds. And wheE spring
came one could trace that course by
the path of green that showed just
where the willing earth had given
harbor to the pest and where it was
| destined to grow. and reproduce its
kind. In it's early history in this
country one of my friends, know
ing my interest in all kinds of bot
anical specimens brought to me in
his wagon, from forty miles away,
gigantic specimen four feet in
diameter, which, when dried and
hung up in my Office, was for long
time an object of curiosity to many
visitors.
The first specimens observed in
our county were found along the
railroad track. The winds blew
the rolling plants against the trains,
they became entangled in the run
ming gear of the cars and were borne
for hundreds of miles, scattering
their seed all the way. This &C
counts for the incredibly rapid
spread of the weed which in few
years gained foothold in every Sec
tan of the arid and semi-arid reg
ions of our country. The laws
passed against it very soon became
dead letter, farmers gave up the
fight except in their cultivated fields.
No one would accept the position
of road supervisor and attempt to
| .nfo-oo tho low and the weed had