SHEEP WILL DO IT

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3266, 21 May 1943, Page 3

SHEEP WILL DO IT

ERADICATING GORSE SUCCESSFUL SYSTEM HAS YIELDED GOOD RESULTS (By J. E. Bell, instructor in Agriculture, Auckland, in the Journal of Agriculture.) In the following article the writer explains a method which, though it may not be approved by all as a means of eradicating the noxious weed gorse, has been proved to be most satisfactory in several instances. It has been found that cattle can help to eradicate the plant when they are used intelligently. Sheep are also used with great success in eliminating gorse, and the method, which is novel in some respects, is as follows:— Method Adopted The gorse is cut as close to the ground as possible in the spring. For heavy gorse an axe must be used, while a heavy slasher can be used for smaller gorse. It is important to cut close to the ground, and the aim should to be cut to within, at the most, two inches of the ground level. The area is fired at a time when a good strike of grass is assured from a burn. The time of firing varies according to soil arid climate.

In moister climates early . sowing can be carried out with little risk of failure, but where the autumn rains are fickle, later sowing to make sure of catching them is necessary. In the sowing of burns one must be very careful to ensure that the germinating’ grass and clover will secure an adequate supply of moisture. On a cultivated soil conditions are much different and early sowing is not nearly so risky as regards the supply of moisture*. A dressing of fertiliser must be given at sowing time to 1 give the grass and clover a good start and

to make them and the gorse seedling (which will be there in their millions) ■palatable to the sheep. The sheep, preferably from hard country and of a class which stands punishment, are crowded ori to the area as soon as the grass seed sowing is finished. Both the gorse and the grass are kept fed down constantly to the ground and this must be adhered to until the gorse has given up the fight. This will take about two years, the worst being replaced by the grass and clover as they spread over the grounds. A few cattle will be required to run ahead of the sheep to keep down other growth, such as fern, which will afford shelter to the

gorse. JThe gorse must be always accessible to the close biting teeth of the sheep. To allow this accessibility after the burning and sowing have been completed, the burn should be cleared of all sticks and rubbish, and if necessary a hand rake, should be used to make a proper clearance. Gorse sticks or other rubbish left lying on the ground will shelter the gorse and will cause much more work ip grubbing and cutting later on. The Burn

The gathering of the rubbish must be completed within about six months of the burn. If all this is carried out it will be found that the gorse will not get into the spiney stage, except in odd* patches. it does, it must be grubbed if it is regrowth of the old root, or cut level with the ground if it is seedling growth. Success will not be secured from this® p method unless the gorse is thick and tall or mixed with a thick growth of other vegetation, such as manuka, which, when burnt, will afford a close, hot fire. Within certain limits, the, hotter the fire the better the germination of the gorse seedlings. Where gorse is heaped the fire may be extremely hot and destroy the seed. The thicker the vegetation and the hotter the fire- the more chance there is of killing the old plants and the more ash the better the strike of grass and clover seed. . ,

The closer the gorse is cut to the ground, the greater the shock to ithe old gorse and the less the foliage which can be reproduced. It is then a combat between the biting teeth of the sheep, aided by the spreading grass and clover, and the growing gorse. The old plants have only a small amount of foliage to feed their huge rooting system, and if this is constantly gnawed close to the bark then sooner or later the plant dies. 'Sheep do quite well on this pasture, comprising the soft leaves of the gorse and the young grass and clover. Size of Plants

On most gorse farms the size of the plants and the thickness of the vegetation varies. Generally, there is much scattered gorse. 'This must be grubbed and the plants thrown in with the gorse where the plants are closely

d grown and tall to increase the heat s of the fire and the amount of ash. Where the gorse is thick but small, e it is better left until it increases; in ~ size. It can, however, be tackled by s grubbing the larger plants, cutting e the smaller ones and then burning to 1 produce a seed bed. On such areas the control of gorse is more difficult and hand-raking is necessary to clear away the rubbish. This method of controlling gorse by sheep was adopted l by a farmer in Manurewa. So successful was the method that the writer was informed before going on to the farm that no gorse seed germinated from the burns. This was of course unbelievable and when he visited the farm he could see from the millions of gorse seedlings that abounded on the recent sowings that the gorse seed had germinated as it usually does on a burn. What appeared from the distance to be a clean, short pasture comprised gorse, clover and grass kept short by the sheep. No doubt some of the neighbours looking at the. country from a distance thought no gorse could have germinated. The owner of the farm in question has based his operations against the gorse on experience gained in primary and secondary bush burns. He “logs up” the gorse burn by raking up the gorse sticks. On the bush burns, logs left lying about served as a shelter for much re-growth of fern and other weeds. In the same way, the ■ gorse stick shelters \the young gorse i plant from the feet and the teeth Of stock. The owner grazes some cattle to tackle growth of weeds which sheep will not touch. Scattered gorse cannot be dealt with , in this way, and the thicker and the taller the gorse the greater the chance of success. Once gorse ages it is not liked by stock, which, pref er the young, tender shoots. Sheep are more fond of gorse than cattle are, and are commonly used to control gorse. Generally ef- | forts in this direction have not met with much. success, because the gorse has been allowed .to get. beyond the young succulent stage. Success with grazing can be at- ■ tained only by the concentration of sheep before the spine stage devel-. ops. To attain this concentration,, adequate fencing is ■of great assistance. The area to be tackled should at least ■be fenced off from other areas.