The War Against the Russian Thistle
Walla Walla County officials launch an aggressive campaign to eradicate the invasive Russian Thistle before it chokes local wheat fields.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The annual war of exterminating the Russian Thistle in Walla Walla county has been commenced by the board of commissioners. Instructions have been sent out to every road supervisor in the county to notify property owners where the thistle is in evidence to destroy plants at once. Any supervisor who fails to notify land owners is subject to a fine of $20 and possible removal from office. Supervisors are given the power to employ men to destroy the weeds upon the land of anyone who fails to observe the order. The drastic measures taken by the commissioners are the result of the appearance of the thistle in parts of the county heretofore clear of the pest. Samples of the thistle, taken from the fields of William Reser, south of Walla Walla, were brought to the Statesman office today by Supervisor Andy Taylor, who stated the pest was gaining a strong foothold in many parts of the county. Beyond the Dacres homestead, north of Walla Walla, big patches of thistle have sprung up, and unless destroyed at once will soon sow their seeds to the winds for future crops.
“The sample brought to the Statesman office resemble very much the rollicking 'tumble' weed, which on any windy day in most parts of the valley may be seen trundling gleefully along until some fence corner gets in the way.”
Invasive species management remains a critical issue for Walla Walla’s agricultural economy. The 'Russian Thistle' mentioned here, commonly known today as the tumbleweed, eventually conquered the region, illustrating the difficulty of environmental control once a non-native species establishes a foothold.
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