THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1929. RAGWORT AT KARANGAHAKE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5395, 4 March 1929, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1929. RAGWORT AT KARANGAHAKE.

Ragwort in full bloom, acres of it, greets the eye prac.tiea.lly the; whole way froim Mackaytown to Waihi, but Mackaytown, Karangahake, and Waikino stand out. as the worst offending places, veritable nurseries, ragwort growing there unhindered, a,s if. a valued and treasured flower of erebidlike rarity. From thejse propagating, areas the winds carry seeds far and near, to the farm lands of. people who have done, the majority of them, everything In t.heir power to keep down the Not alone the winds, but passing cattle and sheep spread the plague. The whole question of. ragwort in the places mentioned resolves itself into the fact that the ground where the wqed is growing is mostly no man’s land, being abandoned mining residential site areas whic.h have automatically reverted to the Crown. While noxious weeds inspectors busy themselves, with farmers and their lands, Government, property goes its own sweet way. How in all justice can a farmer be expected, to keep his place clear when on Crown lands there exist forcing frames for the promotion of ragwort growth ? At the last meeting of the; Ohinemuri County Council a member proposed, putting a. man on at the council’s expense to clear the unoccupied sections at Karangahake of ragwort. While the thought, behind this suggestion is to be cammended for its public, spiritednqss, one cannot help wondering why the Ohinemuri County Council should be burdened with this extra, expense, small though it may be, for eradicating weeds on lands over which it exercises no control, and, more to the point, from which it collects no ra.tes. What could be accomplished at Karangahake, beneficial to a certain extent though it might be, would not. seriously affect the issue as a whole. Karangahake is but one propagating spot amid hundreds in the North Island, some, as in the King Country, being of alarming area. It is clearly the Government’s duty to do this w«rk. The while they experiment with moths, whose use is yet to be preyed, ragwort continues to gain and consolidate its hold in the country. The situation has come to such a pass that it is a menace : on that point all are agreed. As such it should be takqn in band in a practical and wholesale manner without delay. Priva.te property, under the eyes of the noxious weeds inspectors, can be left in the hands of the owners to be dtealt with, but Crown lands must bq tackled by the Government. The Government has promised on more than one occasion to do away with unemployment. Here is a change. They have suggested l breaking in new land with the assistance of the unemployed, but .would jt not be better to first clear up weedi-bearing Crown lands ’ Why break in. new 1 land just to prepare it for ragwort. While the much-talke l-.of moth’s epicurean taste is in doubt, and it will be as far as this season is concerned, according to the Government, let the unemployed get busy pulling and! salting—this method has proved satisfactory—and let them, as the land is cleared, have the opportunity to settle on itThe cry has been for more men on the land ; here is the chance of obtaining them. The Crown lands not suitable for farming but suitable for afforestation should be put to that purpose. The remaining waste and useless land, if it bears ragwort, should be kept clear by the Government. A tall order, no doubt.; but someone must do it, and the private individual with his work cut and dried to keep ahead of things cannot be expected to.