NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2892, 7 February 1893, Page 2

NOTES.

The importation aid distribution throughout the Colony of noxiou* weeds, which is always going on to a greater or less extent, has already proved a Berious tnx upon agriculture ; md while in our fields and gardens ire -.1 ready to l»e found in profusion iiearly all the familiar weeda of. the ' Id Country, there is reason to fear that the trouble is not to end here, but that the list of these pests will be added to until it comprises nearly every vegetable scourge known to any part of the world that is visited by ships which trade to New Zealand. For exarapl •, only recently we learned that several species of noxious plants had been found growing on the beach at Timaru, where the seeds had been deposited in ships' ballast, and now we read that on the reclaimed land at Oamaru the same unwelcome discovery has been made, one of the unwelcome visitors detected being the Bathurst burr—that bans of the woolgrower— which is said to have already spread over Cape Wanbrow. Then in a letter addressed to the Christchurch " Press " a day or two ago, a correspondent, alluding to the spread of Californian thistle at Chaney's Corner, writes:—"Now who can wouder at this ? For it is a matter of fact that the Railway Commissioners have since last April landed and deposited about the plains hundreds, and I may say thousands, of tons of ships' ballast, composed of sand, clay, rubble,, and all sorts of filth, and brought from some of the most unhealthy places in the world, such as Santos, Bio, Buenos Ayres, and all along the coast of South America and California, so I say who can wonder at noxious weeds being introduced into our midst, and perhaps more than weeds, some deadly fever such as rages along that coast. Now I think it is time that some powerful body, such as the Agricultural and Pastoral Association, or the Lyttelton Harbour Board, take steps to prohibit the landing of ships' ballast, such as sand, clay, or mullock, altogether, and lessen the chances of introducing Californian thistle." The writer of the letter quoted is quite right, and might have added " and many other noxious weeds and plants." We think we have seen it stated that the Commissioners have given a promise to discontinue this sort of thing; and the T'marq, Harbor Board has, we know, taken steps to put a stop to the mischief already threatened. Whether the Oamaru Board has followed trait we know not.; but it is certain that the whole matter is one which deserves the attention of the Minister for Agriculture, who, in reintroducing the Noxious Weeds Bill next session, should take care to include clauses empowering the Government to make and enforce stringent regulations, such as may prevent or minimise the danger of adding in the future in this way to the cares and troubles of the farmers of the Colony

Possibly it may be found necessary tc require that all ships' ballast be discharged into the sea, or to take some I other means to prevent the importation therein of dangerous reptiles, as well as of noxious weeds, Only the other day, a live snake was brought ' ashore in this way at Oaraaru and a lizard at Timaiu—or vice versa, we forget which, but anyhow it might justas easily have been a snake in both cases — while only a short time before we read of a snake being killed in the North Island, doubtless introduced in the same way. If, instead of a single specimen, a pair of these undesirable reptiles should at any time make their way into heavy fern land, it would not be long before a wide area of country was infested to the great discomfort of the inhabitants. The whole matter, as we have said, is one which certainly ought not to be neglected.

Talking of things which it is undesirable to acclimatise in New Zealand, we are reminded that in the matter of the acclimatisation of the ostrich, it has been demonstrated that this colony affords this valuable bird a suitable habitat. Even in Canterbury the enterprise of Mr J. T. Matson has shown that the birds thrive* well and produce finer and more valuable feathers than in South Africa; but the matter of ostrich fanning has been gone into on a larger scale and even more successfully in Auckland, viz., en Messrs L. D. Nathan and Co.'s property, Whitford Park, TauraMga Creek. The manager of the South Australian Ostrich Company, Port Augusta, is just now on a visit to New 3eaUnd, and the other day paid a visit to Messrs Nathan and Co,'& establishment. He says that the birds ! "are superior to any he has hitherto seen, the feathers having a reinarkablo fulness and glossy appearance, and the birds in tbe pink of condition. So far , as he could judge, the Auckland climate is remarkably favorable to ostrich breeding. All the conditions are favorable, all that is required being birds and good management to ensure success. At Port Augusta the South Australian Ostrich Company are handicapped by droughts, the rabbit nui sance, and poisonous plants, from eating which a number of the young birds are lost." Thus it would seem that for ostrich fanning, as well as in most other industries, Naw Zealand is again /acile princeps, and there seems no reason why the export of ostrich feathers from this colony should not assume as large proportions as that from thet^pe of Good Hope, where it runs to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Apropos to ostriches, here is an item of information about fowl of a smaller I but more generally useful sort which j will be of interest to poultry-farmers 1 and fanoiera, It refers to a new breed lof domestic fowls, known as the \ Orpington, which is just now said to be all the rage in Great Britain. The true bred Orpington, now said to be thoroughly established, was, we read, originally produced by a careful and judicious orossing and recrossing between the Langshan, Minorca, and Black Plymouth Rock, the process taking five years. The breed has therefore one-third of the blood of each of these three most popular and Useful varieties, which-, 1 being combined inta one,- cannot but' make a wonderful all-round bird. Two of the above breeds are good, and sometimes rather too persistent^ sitters j bfet this'

[«vil is counteracted in the Orpington; by its possessing a third of the Minorca blood, which it a non-sitting lraedV 1 Orpingtons have always been found: steady and reliable" sitters, and *lso good mothers. The flesh of the Orpingtons is as white as' that of a dorking; they are very hardy, easy to rear, grow fast, and well bred birds will get +o an immense size and very plump, the cockerels sometimes turning the soleat 1 libs. The pullets . also get very large, and at the same time mature early. They have been known to be in full lay at five months old; but that is exceptionally early, for, ns a rule, they do not often begin under about six months. The eggs are mostly brown or tinted, and a good size, eren from pullets; but From second season hens they, are usually very fine indeed. As winter layers, and for producing the largest number of eggs, taking the year through, they are considered by many to be unsurpassed. In the. winter of 1889-90 one breeder had a pullet which laid eighty-nine eggs in ninety-four successive days, during which period she laid thirty-three and thirty-eight consecutively, and one hundred and fifty within six months. Apart from these marketable qualities, tin Orpington is described [as one of the most handsome varieties of thedomestic fowl yet obtained, their plumage having a beautiful beetle-green gloss, and their perfect symmetry of shape being such. as cannot tail to attract the eye of eveu the least enthusiastic farmer. One farmer in Lincolnshire has, it appears, a flock of six hundred of them, and during the hut two yean a great many of these fowls have found their way into Scotland.