THE HESSIAN FLY AND THE CALIFORNIAN THISTLE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1771, 20 February 1888, Page 2

THE HESSIAN FLY AND THE CALIFORNIAN THISTLE

Under the heading (i peutfs and theh remedy" the "Advocate" writes; — Rangltlkel la jast now threatened with aerloua trouble owing to the Influx oi> the «eßslan fly and the Calif ornlan thistle. The question la one whioh pecuniarily concerns landownera and oocupiera, and to them should be relegated tho ooßt of dealing with It, I moat be dealt with on the co-operative principle, for Individual efiorta would be valueless. To reference to the Hessian fly, we observe that Sit James Hector haa suggested that the only means of getting; rid of the peat is that the ground where the eggs of the fly have been laid should be ploughed deep with a speolally-prepared plough, there betog a suitable one at the Agricultural College, Lincoln, He has asked the Government ta place this plough at the disposal of the settlers whose land la attacked by the fly. Sir Jaccei Heotor, K.0.M.G., Government Scientist, eto , etc., might just aa well have pat forward as a remedy that somebody should be asked to go over the ground with » garden rake. In the name of common sense what would be the value of one plough to deal with the extent of territory effected ? The very idea of the thing Is enough to make t'^e historic sphinx burot her sides with laugh-er. If the difficultly is to be grappled within a sensible manner, there most be a Urge number of ploughs promptly mad on the model of tbe solitary one now at the Lincoln Agrloul- 1 tural College, and they must be plaoed at the disposal of the Rangltikel settlers with instraoiiena how to uae them. The question of who Is to bear the cost must remain wLh the settlers themaelven. At all events, it (s quite manifest that it would be absolute tolly for any individual settler to attempt to deal with the pest on his awn account la fact, the notion woutd be as absurd as Dr Heotor's one plongh to turn over thousands of aores of land In a single season. We do n<t think there ia any provision m the existing statutes emp iwerina the Government to deal with this business In tbe same way as it has bee a dealt with m one or more of tbe other colonies m Australasia. Bat should the pest prove wide-spread, as it seems very likeJy, Parliament will probably, next session, pass a measure dealing with it, and that other new plague — tue O«lif ornlan thistle. This latter pest has already obtained a pretty firm hold. Down Parewanui way the Oalifornfan thtstlee are abundant. Tn the level laad tn the Paraek »retu district we have heard of one settlor who has fully half an acre of his holding covered with them. la the hill ODUotry of Paraekareta they have, along one of tbe raoafc important roadlinea, got an extensve footing. Now, to the Paraekaretu settlers this Oalifor ilan thistle business means a very great deal. The thistle may be grappled with easily enough m level country, but orce let it get up amongst the Faraekareta hills and scrub, and it will be as bad to get rid of as tbe scab iv the hill country of Marlborough, where It has lingered for years after it had been extinguished m every other part of the colony. la conclusion, we may lay that whilst we would strongly urge prompt and oombined action should the matter be aa serious aa some people think, yet the greatest caution eliould be exercised m obtaining definite information. Some of tho largest and most experienced farmers m Rapgltlkel allege that what Dr Heotor calls the Heaalan fly has been In this distrlot from tan to fifteen years j others of them again maintain that the principal damage has been done to the wheat crops by the long continued bigh winds.