REVOLUTIONARY WEED KILLER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 66, 20 April 1945, Page 2

REVOLUTIONARY WEED KILLER

BRITISH SCIENTISTS' DISCOVERY

A now and revolutionary, weed killer which kill weeds while leaving grass and eefeal crops unharmed has been discovered by research scientists of the Imperial Chemical Industries England. The. weed killer, which is known as Mcthoxone is now being tried out on a nationwide basis by the 1.G.1, and the Ministry of Agriculture. The trials already carried out have shown that, when the weed killer is applied at the rate of one pound per acre } weeds such as yellow charlock, wild radish and penny cress growing in corn are killed, but the crop remains unharmed. An outstanding factor of this remarkable discovery ? is that weeds; can be eliminated in the early stages of growth so that they are not given a chance to rob the crop of the food available in the soil. Another important advantage is that methoxone completely eliminates buttercups in thus making available increased food for cattle. Methoxone is the result of two years' exhaustive tests begun by the 1.C.1, in 1942. In that year other United Kingdom scientists started investigations on a parallel substance called chloroxone. Two years later in Ju:y ? United States scientists also began experimenting on chloroxone which was recently announced as the D.C.P. weed killer. Large scale experiments carried out in the United Kingdom provedj however, that methoxone was more j effective than chloroxone and the latter was therefore, discarded.