GRASS SEED SALES

Press, Volume C, Issue 29514, 16 May 1961, Page 9

GRASS SEED SALES

Legislation May Be Sought

Farmers’ freedom to use grass seed contaminated with noxious weeds was criticised at a meeting of the Halswell-Malvem-Paparua-Springs and the Ellesmere-Selwyn noxious weeds control committees yesterday. The chairman (Mr M. E. Jenkins) said: “I don’t think there is any doubt that we’ll have to press for legislation.’’ The field supervisor for the Halswell-Malvern group (Mr F. E. Hoskin) said standard seed from other parts of Canterbury topdressed from the air on hill country would be certain to introduce nodding thistle into areas where it was difficult to control. Mr M. R. Voice (Malvern) said he knew of a farmer who had a shed stacked high with offal from seed-cleaning machines. Asked what he intended to do with it the farmer said: “We scatter it on the hill country.” ■Earlier, Mr A. R. Dingwall, fields superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, told a meeting of the Hals-well-Malvern group that seed certification was never intended to control noxious weeds; it was to ensure purity of strains. Nassella tussock was the only seed not allowed to appear. “More restrictions would impose undue hardship on the seed grower, because there are so many other ways in which weeds can be spread." he said. Mr Dingwall said he had suggested to the Department of Agriculture in Wellington that the common names of noxious weeds should be listed beside the botanical names on the back of the cer. tificates. Normally only the botanical names of noxious weeds among the seeds appear on the certificates. It was not practicable to list only the common names of the weeds because the names varied in different localities Mr Dingwall said. The seeds were also exported to countries where the weeds were known by other names, he said.