ERADICATION OF BURR

Hokitika Guardian, 26 June 1931, Page 2

ERADICATION OF BURR

USE OF A CHILEAN FLY.

SCIENTIST SANGUINE OF

SUCCESS.

L. KELSON, June 21

The would ip of the Dominion will be worth more by about a quarter cf a million sterling, while thousands oi acres now covered by the notorious piri-piri will produce good pasture it the parasite being experimented with by the Cawthron Institute acts in the same way in New Zealand as it does in its native Chile. In his presidential address to the Nelson Philosophical Society to-night Dr David Miller, chief entomologist to the institute, was sanguine of this result being achieved, so that this noxious weed may be doomcdi in this country.

During his recent tour abroad his quest for insects to control this weed led Dr Miller Into strange places it) the South American continent. Not only did he secure and bring insects back to live temporarily in the glass cases of the Cawthron Institute but he also had the opportunity of living ns a guest of honour among a tribe of Indians who live unsubiected to any authority except their own.

none Vet liberated, The insect, the saw fly, resembles an elongated specimen of the. ordinary house fly. A reporter who visited the institute found numbers of them feeding avidly on the piri-piri plants provided. None have yet been liberated in this country, but, judging by their appetite, wflen they are, the days of piri-piri will be numbered. Telling the story of the capture or these insects to his audience to-night, Dr Miller explained that this plur-e of the search was financed b;v the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, as sheepfarmers all through the Domini-u realised what a boon it would be to thorn if they could get rid of the burr. Having secured a large supply or the saw flv in Chile, his next problem was to get them safely to New Zealand. There was no direct boat so that they hadto be taken to Colon ami through the Panama canal. Tropical heat endangered their lives, but be was enabled to keep them in cool store prac tienlly all the time, chiefly through the efforts of the British consul at Colon and the courtesy of the American officials. 4

This saw fly, he added, would prove an important agent in the eradication of the webd, for not only did. its lavas feed upon the foliage of the piri-piri thus destroying the plant, and so allow ing the pasture to develop, but they also ate the burrs, which. It was estimated, reduced the value of the Dominion woo) clip by £250,000 a year. The insect had only to attack the plant ip New. Zealand as it had dope in Chile and the problem was .solved. One important feature qf the habits of the saw fly was that its laryne took the offensive in the winter and early spring when there was little growth, In Chile he had seen the larvae frp/.en in drops of water or. the plants but, so soon as the ice melted, they commenced to feed normally.

TESTS TO BE MADE. He had his new arrivals busy at the institute on the New Zealand species of the plant and, in the spring, he would make tests to ascertain whether they would attack the leaves of valuable plants. Be did not fear that they would and they were thus unlikely to prove m- curse instead of a blessing In this country. The strawberry, for example, was a plant of the same family as thd piri-piri and it had been proved conclusively in Chile that this plant was not harmed by the saw fly. The lecturer mentioned in passing that this insect had itself an enemy in its native land which accounted for about four-fifths of those hatched but, in Bpifp of this, the piri-piri was well under control, This being so, his search for the fly was a prolonged one. These excursions took him into the territory of the Araucania Indians, a people who still' retain their national independence. jtle b/ul been fortunate in being well received among them, which was by'no means valways the case with white men.

NO COMMUNITY LIFE. He found each family living in an isolated 1 dwelling on a ridge, built of a framework thatched with grass; they did not live a community life. They were expert weavers and produced wo Hon hlankets and rugs woven in patterns of divers colours. The fast dyes were procured from native shrubs and trees. On* - of the favourite pastones was plpving a game of hockey very similar to our own game, though practised long before the advent of the Europeans.

Dr Miller spent about three weeks in this Indian village, and the hospitnlitv of these natives, he assured his audience, was something to exp rience