Plentywood herald., 1934-08-23
Your Column
RUSSIAN THISTLE is GOOD FEED
By ]. G. HANEY

By ]. G. HANEY
Agri. Exten. Dept, Internal. Har Co
Recent rains over much OF the dry
region has caused big growth ol
Russian thistle, that is being put uI
by the hundreds Of tons for winter
feed. The question with many who
could put up Russian thistle Is, 'Is
1t worth the trouble to put 1t up?'
unquestionably 1t Is. as will be EN-
phasized by the experience and OBJ
seryation OF those who have used
this weed when nothing else was av-
| ailable
Russian thistle, cut when In bloom,
before the spines get hard. stacked
green or put in q silo, will make feed
almost equal to any other feed that
could be had. This is borne out by
many who have fed it during past
drouth years, and by carefully con-
Quoted trials at experiment stations,
from Kansas to Saskatchewan.
| While no one, yet, advocates the
use OF this weed when anything else
is available, there is no question but
that it can be used to advantage, and
can be had where nothing else is
available The weed may be cut
with the mower, raked and stacked
green (f left to dry in the swath
e spines become sharp, or put IN
| silo, either cut or uncut The
trench silo is used extensively-the
thistle hauled into pit and tramped
down by driving team and wagon
over it. There is no question as to
the feeding value OF Russian thistle
1t is nearly the equal Of even sweet
clover or alalfa; the problem is to
save 1t In as palatable condition as
possible-not so dry and spiney that
stock cannot eat 1t.
A thin growth Of big bushy thistle
can be pulled with hay rake. or
anything that will drag them loose.
Plows, with long wings on the share
have been used, running only an inch
or SO deep. But the mower and rake
are used almost exclusively.
Careful Investigations have been
made In Kansas, Nebraska, Scufh
Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and
Canada, as to the using of Russian
thistle-and all indicate that In an
emergency, such as now exists, 1t
can be made to supplement or even
replace other feeds In Montana, "a
per cent OF the farmers reporting, fed
1t alone to advantage. Generally 1t
is considered advisable to feed the
thistle with some other rougnaEc
Fed alone it tends to be laxative, but
4 1t 81 n Txn At
great disadvantage. When put In =
trench silo, green, or wetted as put
in, 1t feeds to the best advantage.
Here is what couple OF Saskat-
chewan farmers had to say about
Russian thistle for feed:
James Pepper, of GodWater, SasA
atcheWan, stated, Last year had
very little feed and consequently cut
large quantities Of Russian thistles,
part OF which | made into silage, and
the balance, most of which about ma
ture when cut, put through the
threshing machine, after Tightening
up the coneaves. and blew 1t into thet|
hay NOW. / found that the cattle
ate the Russian thistles fairly well
and came through the winter In good
condition.
Harold Thackeray accounted OF his
experience with Russian thistle as a
fodder: 1T wasn't my choice that !
had anything to do with Russian
thistle. but last year, we seeded 800
acres of crop and were not able to |
harvest one bushel Of grain or one
oat sheaf for the simple reason that
they were not there to be harvested,
but there was a good crop OF thistle,
so we put up for feed 100 loads OF
thistle In stacks. Some OF this thistle
had a sprinkling of wheat In 1t and
some had none We also put SO loads
in silo, just as 1t came from the
field without putting 1t through
cutter We put plenty OF water on 1t
and tramped it In with a horse and
1t cured fine and the stock ate 1T al
right
I'VE were able with this thistle
and some old hay and oat sheaves
left over to winter about SO head OF
stock, and put our crop In without
buying any fodder of any kind.
1T isn't the kind OF feed like to
feed, but 1t Is whole lot better than
nothing and If the crop fails again
this year, we will again be putting
up more thistle"
RUSSIAN THISTLE CAM BE US
ED FOR FEED WHEN NOTHING
ELSE Is AVAILABLE.