An intelligent correspondent of the St. Louis Rural World remarks, that "most farmers know that the persistent defoliation of a weed or a tree will result in death. Did they not so believe they would never strike a blow with a hoe, nor persistently fight the canker worm. The trimming or pruning of shade trees (and often of orchard trees also) in public parks or along the highway, is not done or ordered by experienced gardeners or horticulturists, but by officials who know no more about vegetable physiology than they do about the North Pole. This ought not so to be, but, unfortunately it is so."

To our mind they hoe, because they want to destroy the plants "root and branch." If they know generally that the persistent destruction of young leaves before they mature will destroy the most inveterate rooter among weeds, we have been very unfortunate in not meeting such intelligence. Not only from among "most farmers" do we find comes the imploring question, "How to kill Canada thistle?" and other weeds, but we have heard it asked in agricultural conventions and Boards of agriculture, with usually the only answer, "to root them out by law," - "fining the man who grows them," and indeed, we have rarely heard taking the young leaves off suggested - and when we have, have seen the same "good farmers" come back and ask the same question of the "convention" the next year.