VOL. XXX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JULY 27, 1895.
NO. 30.
Written fur tin' Indiana t'uniu r.
Wild or Prickly Lettuce,.
ii v \v. s. hi.a nn i.
Across the Atlantic, from the shores nr
Mother Europe, have come, from time to
Ume, animals tod plants of great usefulness   to   the denizens of the N»w World.
"With them, or after them, have alg me
many which have proven them selves
curses to the entire agricultural portion
of our country.
Among the animals of the latter class
may be mentioned the hessian fly, cabbage butterfly and horn fly, three of the
worst insect pests known tn man, and the
English sparrow,that aggressive, pestiferous alien which has taken forcible possession of OUT barnyards, gardens and orchards and driven from them the native
birds—the   rightful   denizens that were a
hundred fold more beneficial as insect destroyers,
than the hateful foreigners.
Among the plants introduced in various ways from
the waysides and waste-
places "f the Old World are
many of our worst weeds,
examples of which are the
foxtail, pigweed, eoeklehur,
orab-grass, thistle, burdock,
and smart weed.
In the K.MtMKK for March
8, 1890, I published a list of
what I then considered to
In the 28 worst ,
ing in western Indiana, together with tlie native home
or origin of each species.
The subject of the present
sketch—'•The Wildor Prickly Lettuce'"—was not a member of the list; but to-day I
would place it far up towards the top, for from recent observations during extended travels over the
State. I find there are few
roadsides or bits of waste
land, in city or country,
where it does not raise its homely head,
and in many places it is getting into the
meadows and cultivated fields and causing  much   trouble to the owners thereof.
A native of Kurope, it was introduced
onto the shores of Massachusetts in 1983,
From there it spread slowly but surely
westward and southward, reaching Indiana about ISK4, when it was observed in
Wayne and Fayette counties, since that
date it has eaeh year increased its range
and numbers, until to-day it is one of the
most abundant of our eommon weeds.
Like each of the other foreign weeds
which have successfully invaded our land
it possesses a number of individual or
specific characters which have enabled it
to su 'il so well in its struggle for existence among our native plants, and to
push its way so widely over   the   United
StUte.-.
Belonging lo the great plant family of
Compositae, it, like in.ist other members
of that family, produces many seeds, each
of which bears at maturity a tuft of tiny
bristles called the pappus. This tuft enables the seed to float along upon currents of air, and a slight breeee is sufficient to carry it many rods away from the
mother plant. Careful estimates have
shown that an average plant of tiie Prickly t.ettiu-e will produce froms.noo to H>.i>iki
seeds, each of which has within its protective coats a little plantlet ready to germinate and grow whenever and wherever
the proper conditions of soil, moisture and
temperature arc present.
The plant is an "annual."' i. e., the seed
sprouts, and the plant grows, blooms and
produces other seeds in a single season,
the whole plant dying thereafter. Indeed
some of those which appear earliest in
spring and bloom, as I have seen them do.
thc tirst week in .rune, produce seed.many
of which will  sprout   immediately   Upon
reaching maturity and produce a second
crop of the plant the same season.
Il is disliked and rejected by herbivorous animals on account of numerous
spines, or small prickles (whence Itscom-
mon name) which grow along the borders
ol' lhe leaves or upon the midrib on   their
underside.    11 als i tains an acid, bitter.
milky Juice, **• hich renders it distasteful,
especially during its latter stages of
growth.
Mut perhaps its must aggressive character and the one which has tended most to
its successful spread in this country is its
ability to grow any where and everywhere
that its seeds can secure a covering of
earth; and so from crevices in gutters into which a little soil    has   drifted,   "from
-tone   heaps,   weed-choked   corners  of
fences and yards, roadways and beaten
paths it springs and nourishes. I.ut such
poverty and ill usage are by no means es-
method of ridding ourselves of it? In my
opinion, there is no method. Like the
other "worst weeds" from aeross lliesea.it
is here, and here to stay. The farmers of
the future must wage an-eternal warfare
against,for it has secured a foothold which
cannot be overcome. It can only beheld
in subjugation in the same manner as the
ragweed, purslane, foxtail and coeklcbiir
arc held —by continual hoeing, plowing
and mowing.
There was a'titne when bill one, l« -
a doaen plants of tlie kind existed in the
Slate. Then was lhc time to have successfully quarantined the species by destroying those pioneers. The few persons
on whose lands they appeared neglected
them, and every gardener, every farmer,
yea. every land owner in the State must
henceforth, now and forever pay the penalty of that neglect. Perhaps those few
farmers   are   not   so   much  to be blamed
\vi l.l, nit rim
sential factors in its success, for it also
springs up in meadows, gardens and cultivated tields. Still the power to extract
sufficient moisture and food from compacted and sun-beaten earth, and thus to
overtop competitors, and in the less favorable spots to grow where few plants
could live, place it in the tirst rank of
noxious, annual  weeds."*
The average hight of the Prickly Lettuce at maturity is about three aud one-
half feet, though in rich soil it may reach
or even exceed six feet. When unmolested it sends up a single erect stalk
bearing oolong leaves three to flve inches
long by one to two inches wide,which are
armed, as above mentioned, by small
spines. These leaves clasp the main stalk
by an arrow shaped base in a peculiar
manner, their edges being "up and down"
or vertical, instead of "right and left.-' or
horizontal, as are the leaves of most other
plants. Moreover, in most cases the tips
of the leaVe? point north and south, so
that it is one of the few so-called "coin-
pass plants" known to man. The upper
half of the stalk sends nut spreading,
much divided branches, w hich bear fewer
and smaller leaves. On the ends of the
branches are the small, Inconspicuous
yellow flowers, ten or twelve nf each being grouped Into a head in the manner peculiar tn all Compositae. Whenever the
upper   part   nf the plant is cut nr brnken
off numerous spreading branched at once
start from the lower uninjured part, and
bear leaves and flowers,so that it becomes
many fold more troublesome than if left
to grow erect.
And now, 1 suppose, the qnestions naturally arise: What shall be done with
the Prickly Lettuce?    What   is   the    best
ki.v  LETTUCE.
after all. for knowing nothing of the rudiments nf botany thcy were unable tn distinguish this aggressive foreign weed
from the must Innocent wild flower which
grew upon their lands. Perhaps the farmers of the future will learn, after years of
costly experience, that the rudiments nf
botany, entomology .and kindred subjects,
which have to do with plan, and insect
life, should be given a place in the curriculum of the common schools, that their
sons and daughters may be able to distill-
guish the injurious from the beneficial,
and so destroy the one and protect the
Other,    Perhaps these farmers   will    thin
arise in their might and demand that such
branches conducive tn   their   welfare   be
placed in .-aid curriculum.   Perhaps—but
time alone will tell.
With All His Worldly Goods.
1 shall never forget, said an old   clergy-
nian   recently,  the   lirst   marriage   eerc-
mony  I ever performed.   I   was  newly
ordained and newly married,and  was nn
my wedding journey in the southern
States. We had stopped to visit some relatives nf my wife, when mie nf tlle servants, learning that I was a clergyman,
thought it was a good opportunity for
wedding the man of her choice.
The service was to be performed at the
residence of the groom, a tiny cabin not
far aw ay from the house, and my young
wile, with a ho\ y of her girl friends, went
along ostensibly to ad as witnesses, but
really to see the fun. Matters went on
smoothly enough until the bridegroom
struck the sentence, "And with all my
worldly goods 1 thee endow," when il
occurred to him that it would be more
business like to enumerate the items.
Starting in with "His yer
Cabin en de ba'au." he went
through wilh a list of all
his possessions, refreshing
hi-   memory from time to
time with rapid glances
around the room ti, make
sure that nothing had been
omitted. He Anally wound
up breathless on the "three
pieces of hawg meat and de
mewl." leaves me with my
place in the prayer-book lost
and my mental faculties in
a state of chaos.
The girls had long before
lied from the cabin, prudently distrusting their
powers of self-control, so I
finished up as best I could
and followed them. 1 have
never married a couple since
without a slight nervous—
ness as the man neared that
place in tlie service. Suppose so m<' millionaire
should take it into his head
to emu late my coloredfriend
and enumerate his weirdly
goods in the middle of the
ceremony!
M. *-. Arthur, liuiictiii So. v_. Purdue tnivcrsuy
Agricultural Experiment Station, ISM, 103.
A Change for the Better.
Editors Indiana I'ahmf.u:
Those who   lead Mr. Haslet's   letter in
our last number   will be   glad to   see the
following:
The situation is greatly changed in the
last mi hours. We have had flood solid
rains, enough to wet the earth to a depth
of six inches, and not accompanied with
any wind. Our corn tields are too wet to
cultivate. The corn stands np straight as
an arrow. We are all feeling good;
will revive up our burned pastures and
give us a i_:<n«l potato crop as well,—an
important item to the lover of that tuber.
It will not change my plans with my six
acre corn field though, unless the wind
lodges the corn sn that I eannnt work it
any more. I am a thorough believer in
thorough culture. The corn with us that
has been cultivated regularly up to date
is in better i lition than the fields   that
were laid bv two   weeks ago.    The   prospect is good for more rain at this writing.
Carroll Co. Jakes Haslet.
Lightning struck  Frank Owens's barn,
near  Chalmers,  and   three   horses   were
killed.
An American named /.erinatt Parkett
has accomplished the ascent of the Mat-
terhorn,   In Switzerland, over   14,700 feet
above the level "f the sea.
Tiie corn crop is always better if planted
upon a buried sod, and tlie sod is always
belter if manured thc year before it is
buried. It is not unwise to thus dispose
of all tlie manure of the barn. The manure is got   into   better   eiuiditinn tn feed
the coming oorn crop than if applied first
tu it.
If farmers would use a little more care
in selecting Seed, and would refuse all
which was not pure, wholesale and retail
merchants would more carefully inspect
all seed they buy. and would be forced to
offer none but that which was clean. Now
w eeda are annually brought thus to every
part of our country.
Th*'market seeks   the  better article always, and at a  good  price.,   Enormous
quantities of poor fruit, vegetables, butter, cheese and animals are shipped annually, and prices fall cnnsequeiitly.
Offer unfiling nf bad quality,and yon will
be remunerated, and will establish a
market for your wares.
After manuring snd well add all Ihe potash and phosphoric acid you can afford.
These will not   get   away   from you.    Sod
l» wonderfully absorbent, and.will  hold
them.   Nitrification   will go on   rapidly
through all the hot weather during which
II nn makes  its  growth.    In this way
the manure  can   be   all saved by hauling
out as fast as made.