CALIFORNIAN THISTLE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 806, 2 May 1910, Page 10

CALIFORNIAN THISTLE.

TAIHAPE EXPERIENCE. Under the auspices of tlie Taih'ape iraneli of the Farmers' Union a meet- ■ jr.g was held -in the Gretna Hall, Tai- ; ' tape (writes our travelling corrcspond- ■ ent) to discuss the Californian thistle question. -Farmers from. all parts of ' the district ; were present. 1 The position with regard to this pest is becoming most serious, as it would be very difficult to find any farm in-tlie locality npon which the thistle is not growing in quantities. ■ In some cases it is. now beyond the power of the farmers to . cope with under existing conditions. .' Mr. -H-. T. Batley,: vice-president of ... the branch, presided over the meeting, and. in opening the proceedings said . they were met together to discuss a matter: which threatened ruin to many farmers. Ho then requested ; any farmer to give his views on the matter and state what he considered were the best means to adopt; and also asked them-to give their own' experience as to. the method and times of cutting, aiid the results from their operations. Mr. Bremnar, in referring to a meeting which was held at Ruanui a couple of weeks ago, an impression had got abroad that the meeting there was in favour of tho. Noxious. Weeds Act beiiig suspended in the district. This was erroneous. What was desired was that before any drastic action was' taken by the-' Department the Minister should be invited to! visit the district and see personally what steps the settlers were' takhig to ... cope with the pest, and to take note of the great spread of"tho thistle in spite of the cutting which i had been-done by • the farmers. ' ; " i - ■ "■■• . Six Times Cut. . ■ Mr. Borlase, manager of Mr. J; F. Stadholme's Ruanui Station, at some, length, showed, what, had been done there. He: stated that it-'had cost as. much as £200 in one season for cutting, and also that ' somo ■•■patches had been cut as.often as six times. One patch ; he had attempted to.crush out by putting in .heavy mobs" of sheep 'ahd cattle,, after which none could be seen; but it was . not long before the thistle made its appearance again. He ' also. stated that-he did. not thifik it inter-". '. " fered with the. carrying capacity-of the' land,, as during the. summer season there was more griss than tho stock . could: eat, while in the winter months the' thistle was practicilly out of sight, as it does not stand the frost. . Several speakers said that, to' cut,- the: thistle, once only was simply cultivating it. ' ■ " _ . Mr. A. R. Fannin gave somo'particu-< lsvrly interesting details of whai he had done, to 'oope .with-this pest:, ' He "said: that he ciitting early, in September as sdbn as the plants .show, up, continuing right on whenever they : made, their appearanoe. "Where strong patches are seen—and new ones make their appearance each season on '.ac-, count of seed germinating—'lie uses the scythe' or reap-hoop' for two or three cuttings to weaken the plants, but tho after cuttings are done with a knife under grotmd. - By adopting these means 'Mr. ; Fannin has • completely eradicate&.mi'uy patches upon which l at, the present time no thistle can be seen; He also said that every patch <eac!i year becomes weaker, some have been got rid. of in two. years; while in the r ■ ease of'others, after even-five or'six' years, an occasional shoot may be seen. Mr; Fannin said, in answer to an in.terjection, that he, had not many patches, and showed- a diagram of one. . portion qfuiis'farnr comprising. 60 acres I upon which there • we're' 129 di{ferent' plots of . varying sizo.

Interesting Figures. Mr. D: Scott, whose farm is opposite Mr. Fannin's, was unable to be present, but he .had asked Mr.-Fannin to place - before the'meeting details of what had been .done on his . farm. During the season 1906-07 he commenced cutting on October 23, and ended on May 9.' The cutting equalled 252 -days. Reckoning wages, at 30s. per week-and tucker at 10s., this came to 42 weeks at £2, total-' ling £84. The area over which cutting was dono'in that, season was 439 acres. In the . season 1907-08, : the same area was dealt with, tho work covering 294 days, or' 49 weeks, and costing £98. He started cutting on September 4, and finished on May 18. The thistles were weak' and hard to find at the end of tho aeason.' In the. season' 1908-09j an area of 459 acres'was dealt with in 135 days (22£ Tj-eeks), at a coßt of £45. In tho season 1909-10 an area of 530 acres was cut in 21 1-3 weeks, costing £42 13s. 4d., with one more cutting to go' 6f abbut 10 or 12 days. Mr. Scott pointed out that with thisi.system'of cutting he has kept the thistles in such a weak 'stato that they were hardly noticeable,. And in many plots they have disappeared. By his system he has shbwii that the pest ciu be .very materially', reduced, . and that the-less number of days it took to go!oiv6r the patches proved the cost is .a diminishing one -each season. Mr. B6ucke said that when he had brokfin.up sdffie of. the open country at Pukeokahu he had shortly afterwards found seven different, plants. These be dug up .and had entirely got rid of them. Th<by had been destroyed before they had got any depth, in the soil. Mr. Kyndoii also said thdt in the Pukeokahu district, where there was a la'rfee, area of old open country, which had Wen in- grass for, many years, it was very rare to see any thistles, but that diTe'ctly the land was broken, up for rape or turnips, up came the thistle, Ho also asked: "What'good is it for me to', spend my time and money in cutting, when'on a. large property just across the Rangitikei there are acres of thistle which have never been cut,'and when every .favourable wind brings the seed in showers on my property?"Diverso Experiences. Mr. Davis, tho late chairman of the Farmers' Union, , said that one very great, factor was the class of land, some soils being much more congenial to the thistle...than others.' Opposite his own place there was a selection of 60 aores, upon which thare. were several'patches. These bfcd all disappeared by being cut repeatedly, and when ho went ovor the sect ion' 4 short iime ago he failed to see any thistles where they were thick before. -This he attributed to tho soil biing of a mflch heavier nature than on his siiJo 6f the valley, where in spite of afl kis entting the thistle had gained ■ on him.

' Otto speakers gavo their experience, which wa-s «« si»ilar lines, but tho majority of tin iji»i«ns expressed were that . if. iu»7 r»laiati»» i* e»ttiog_ tho thistls it?.i t# eeeir, it w«»ld tinjlv ir.m U» rrk«i» etna try wenid cosn Immw* . *rx<4ii>illy •>« patch. It waj ?&• sbwV «fc»t«i iy many of tke spasissi tist o»Wng cmce was of no osa vtatwtr, is it cultivated the Oj ifis ether hand somo said tfeat iV wtuld be irtposs'iblo.. to . koep on eo&ti«£ all through' the season; as spins It would be more than ths leuil was worth. A farmer at Mataroa told me that one of his neighbours heH told him if he was compelled to cut his thistle for another twelve months he would, have to abandon l is seotion to the Government, as tho cost

would bo beyond his means. My informant also said other farmers had told him'that'two years' more cutting would •finish );hem. . ■ A Difficult Problem. v From the experience of the various speakers at the meeting, it is evident (adds our correspondent), thero are several aspects to this most serious menaoe to the country. On tho, one hand there is just as little doubt that some arc now successfully, .dealing with tho thistle, while on the other it seems as elearlj demonstrated that under certain conditions nothing can stop the post. It is a puzzle which will require a very great deal of unravelling. All along the railway line'ono may see big .patches of the thistle. They have been cut, probably once, but any amoui't of plants are in bloom. In thd workedout sawmill villages the'thistle is ram.pant, and never cut. In tho Native locked-up lands it also flourishes exceedingly, and in .the scenic reserves it grows a tite own sweet will. In all these cases the adjacent farms are* infested from these places, and nothing is done. But if thij farmer neglects to- carry out the provisions of tho Act, he stands a good chance of being included in the next batch of those who will be summoned to appear before the Court.