It’s time to get after those invading noxious weeds we farmers have to fight year after year on our land. Though the musk thistles are the worst, if the thistles are treated and taken care of, their numbers can be kept at bay. But it takes a lot of time, money and effort. After listening to my farmer-husband visit with other farmers, the problems in our pastures lately include spreading locust trees, hedge trees, and of course, the ever growing and increasing cedar trees. One farmer friend joked when out spraying the locust trees, he always hopes he can find and kill the “King Locust” tree. He hopes finding and destroying that tree will kill all the rest of the surrounding locust trees, but he laughed and admitted that so far he hasn’t been able to find the “king.” He went on to say his thinking is that at least the hedge trees can eventually end up as good hedge posts used in making a good pasture fence.
Cedar trees in some pastures have been let alone too long, taking over and choking out pasture grasses. Some pastures are turning into forests. If cedars are taken care of early, they can be easily cut back with hand held clippers, but if let to grow using the chain saw and then treating the stump or hiring someone with a machine to cut the trees may be the only answer. There are spray on treatments that can be used on cedars but that can become expensive. Pasture burns can be used to kill the smaller cedar trees.
As a youngster and even as a young married farm wife, I don’t remember my farmer-father, farmer-uncles or farmer-husband having to check pastures for the musk thistles, cedar or locust trees. I’m sure if some needed removed from the pastures, father would have had his daughters out there helping get rid of them. The only thing I remember father having his daughters do along this line was going out into the milo fields to chop out cane or other tall weeds that had grown up within the rows of milo.
It was later in my married life when my farmer-husband had our sons and myself join him in the pastures hunting for the musk thistles. Our weapon was the hoe or spade, digging the thistle out, which was a hard and hot job. If the thistles got too far ahead and were not seen and taken care of early, they bloomed. The blooms which included the seeds were cut off and placed in a bag to be burned in a trash barrel. Today there are four wheelers with attached spray tanks that are doing away with the thistles before they mature. Spray planes can take care of wide areas in pastures.
What makes it hard for the farmers who work at keeping the thistles at bay, are those rare neighboring land owners or renters who don’t keep the thistles in check. All it takes is a good strong wind to take those seeded thistle blooms and spread them throughout the pasture and into the neighboring pastures and fields.
I remember the look in my farmer-husband’s eyes when visiting with someone living in a city. After it was explained to her how farmers work at destroying thistles, she said how beautiful she thought the thistle blooms were and hoped they wouldn’t all be destroyed. Believe me, I’m a flower lover but when it comes to digging thistles out of the ground, musk thistle flowers are ugly!
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