DANGEROUS PLANT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 3, 29 August 1944, Page 6

DANGEROUS PLANT

DIVISION OF OPINION

A further protest against the cultivation of boysenberry was received by the Auckland Provincial Executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union at its monthly meeting on August 16. Mr W. Heaven (Papatoetoc) writing in reference to a previous complaint fom the Kaipara district said that the boysenberry .should not have been alowed to come into the Dominion, as if unchecked there.was a danger of it. becoming n. pest worse than the blackberry, fie had bought some plants four years ago, but as the blackbirds ate all the fruit he had decided to destroy the plants. To do so, however, was a very difficult owing to the. deep rooting. Mr A. Osborne (Wellington) General Manager of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' said that he had known boysenberrics to be cultivated extensively for seven years without any complaint. The plants, had been under observation in the Nelson and Wairarapa districts and there had been no evidence that it should be classed as a noxious weed. The same could be said of loganberries-which had been cultivated for 30 years. Mr J. W. Jones (Bay of Islands) said that it was difficult to control the plant in loose soils. Mr A. Briscoe Moore (Whangarei) said that stock was very fond of the plant. ' Mr A. McGonanghy (Paparoa) said that he thought the plant should be "blown right out." It was decided to refer the matter to the Farmers.' Federation.