NOXIOUS WEEDS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4766, 20 October 1924, Page 2

NOXIOUS WEEDS.

BLACKBERRY ON THE PLAINSTIME TO TAKE ACTION. The representations recently made by the farmers’ organisations of Ngatea and Turua auent the spread of . noxious weeks on the Hauraki Plains make a hopeful sign. As yet the pest lias not assumed big dimensions in that area, and with the problem tackled in the proper way noxious weeds could be kept within bounds and piobably eradicated. The seriousness of the menace is not realised, for it has so often been , stated that certain of the most obnoxious weeds would not grown well on the Plains. This is a fallacy Blackberry, for instance thrives well all over the Dominion, and to say that it will not grow on the Plains is only an excuse for allowing this nuisan"e to grow practically unchecked. The Plains cost an enormous sum tv make fit for settlement, and when opened up the district was practically a clean one in the midst of a weedinfested country. To allow, say, blackberry, to grow unchecked would virtually be to allow the land to go back to an unproductive state. The seriousness of the blackberry pest is reflected in the offer of the Government of a bonus of £lO,OOO for a cheap and effective means of kill? ing the plant. Weeds have encroached on to the Plains, and are undoubtedly spreading. The longer action is delayed the more difficult will be the problem of checking the growth. Wide powers are given under the Noxious Weeds Act, so wide, in fact, that it has become practically a dead letter, as in many cases it would cause a distinct hardship to enforce the Act. On an area such as the northern part of the Plains, where there are only comparatively isolated clumps, the Act could well be enforced without undue hardship being caused. Compulsion, however, should not be necessary. The eradication of weeds should commend itself to every farmer worthy of the name. More good would probably be done by the farmers’ organisation if they endeavoured to create the right feeling in their districts and brought the responsibility of famers before them than by asking that the Noxious Weeds Act be enforced. The responsibility for clearing noxious weeds on roads is on the landowner whose property fronts the road, and in the case of unoccupied Crown lands and reserves it rests upon the Government. Here is one of the most vicious aspects of the case, for the Government makes little or no effort to keep its land clear, thus making the Noxious Weeds Act a case of “do as I say, not as I do.” Unoccupied Crown lands are frequently infected with all classes of weeds which, despite strenuous efforts on the part of formers, spread to adjoining lands. This is particularly the case in the southern part of the Hauraki Plains. Speaking in December last to the . Hon. W. Nosworthy, Minister for Agriculture and Acting-Minister for Lands, Mr F. W. Pearson, on behalf of the Patetonga Ratepayers’ Association, said that on thousands of acres of Crown land blackberry was growing, and was rapidly spreading to cultivated land. The Minister said that he was out to sec that Crown lands were cleared of the pest. He realised the urgency, and was giving the matter his attention. Apparently the Hon. Minister his Department are still considering the matter, and in the meantime the weeds have spread to such an extent that they have become one of the causes tending to drive settlers off ■their farms. Certain it is that the spread ot the weed is seriously threatening the planting of flax, and may cause existing stands to be replaced by grass so that the weed can be controlled. In that area, as nf other, parts of the Dominion where it would cost more to grub out the weed than the land would cost, the eradication will have to be deferred until K some agent such as the Government is now offering a reward for is discovered, but in areas where the pest has not yet secured control effort should not be relaxed. Blackberry is not the only weed the spread of which should cause concern. There are at various places on the Plains clumps of ragwort, Californian thistle, gorse, and foxglove. These should not be neglected.