Deadly Weed Flourishes In Levin On Borough And Private Land

Chronicle (Levin), 4 December 1948, Page 4

Deadly Weed Flourishes In Levin On Borough And Private Land

Easily recognisable by its fern-like leaf, large mottled stalk and white cluster flowers, hemlock, one of the deadliest of New Zealand s noxious weeds, finds Levin's climate much to its likinF- And so it should, for not only does it flourish here, but it is lett undisturbed to grow and seed within a stone's throw of any public thoroughfare.

| The control of noxious weeds , within the borough is the6 job of jthe Levin Borough Council. It can j and should keep a strict eye on i owners of property on which the weed is allowed a free reign. It has the power to prosecute if a prior order to remove the weed is not carried out. First, however, it i should clean up its own house for, in a survey of Levin, it was obI'served that hemlock is t-hriving on borough property. Noticeable also were some really grand crops of hemlock on Government property and land leased by the Government. The prize exhibits were in Queen Street West, nbt very far from Oxford Street, where the weed can be best observed in all its glory and in all stages of growth, encroaching in places almost on to the footpath, Strangely enough the land is the property of a local body — the Horowhenua Electric Power Board. A close contender for the hon- ' ours for the best crop in Levin is a

luscious growth at— of all places— | the Levin Park Domain, partic- , idarly in an area near the tennis jtourts. The street frontages of yprivate dwellings are also excellent breeding grounds for the weed. It is fully realised that the Levin Borough Council has its staff diffi.'culties and that to send men round spraying or digging out each plant— -for no other cure is possible— would be a difficult ta^k. There is no reason, however, why it and other responsible bodies should not set an example in regard to their own property. An appeal to the householder to "c'ooperate in a general effort to clean up this dangerous weed throughbut the town would then carry much more weight. It is the duty of all to familiarise themselves with the weed and eradicate it wherever it appears. It can be dangerous. It has beeri known to cause the death of children.