THE CALIFORNIAN THISTLE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2056, 29 April 1907, Page 1

THE CALIFORNIAN THISTLE.

prevent a monopoly the Government, would retain sufficient oyster bods, ensuring a regular supply, and would fix a minimum price.’

Tlie North Otago Times says: Some time ago the Government offered a reward of L'oOO to the person wdm disoovered an effective means of eradicating the Californian thistle, and experiments wore carried on on Totara for some considerable time by about a dozen enthusiastic gentlemen, each of whom believed ho had discovered a certain cure. The thistles stili wave and bloom oil Totara, and this fact had all to do with the paucity of applicants at the ballot for the richest land in the colony. However, about the same time a settlor in the district made a discovery. He iiad a patch of thistle on his land that neither sheep nor cattle could outer. A flood levelled the thistles and covered them with silt. On that silt grew a luxuriant crop of ox-eyed daisy, and not a thistle came up through'them.- ' The ox-eyed daisy covered the land like a coir mat. Over another patch of thistles on the same land the ox-e.ved daisy was sown, and there also the thistles were squelched out of existence. Application was then made to the then .Minister for bands (Mr. Duncan) for the reward, hut the cautious Minister, Wjlicii he ascertained'the method, replied that the cure was as bad as the disease, and no reward coidd ho paid for that sort of thing. The i applicant admits that the ox-eyed daisy is a noxious weed, hut holds I that -while he could do nothing with the thistle till the ox-eyed daisy came | along, he is confident he can kill off ! the latter when it has done its work. ] Hu, however, has not tried, and there , the new method of killing off the 1 Californian thistle rests. ;