Page 2 Advertisements Column 4

Manawatu Herald, 27 July 1899, Page 2

H. GUTHRIE SMITH. Peel Forest, Rangitata, July 18'h, 1896. (EXTRACT.) S "ma two or three years years ago your paper contained a cutting from either an English or American paper regarding the above. The contents of the paragraph were of a eulogistic character concerning the plant. More than one New Zoaland paper copied the matter from you, and several people were so enthused by the glowing description concerning it that they sent to Japan and America far it. S >me of the American nursery catalogues contained the usual superlative amount of puff when describing this plant, thereby increasing the interest that had been generated by your paragraph. One gentleman (a member of your staff by the way) sent to Japan, and managed to gejr.one plant alivß out of a consignment, which he placed in your hand? for acclimatisation dnd propogatbn. Daring last reason the plant, which is in a tub, grew well, and formed itself into a rhapoly bush, with striking and wellcut foliage. So far we can speak of it, but we have had such alarming accounts of this plant from the most reliable sources that we ba3ten to warn your reader to be careful lest they may be the means of growing \vl\ distributing what may be one of th? worst sourges the country has ever known. Some weeks ago we ordered a plant of Rubus Scorbifolia* from a well-known and enthusiastic horticulturist, which we reseived in due oourse with the following instruction how to treat it, viz., " Place these plants in hottest fire you can," and in the letter the writer added " that the persom who imported this plant should be imprisoned for life." When ordering Rubus Soofbifoli*, we did not know it was tha same Going as the strawbarry-raqpberry which it turns out to be. To-day we received the following letter from Mr H. Budden, Kelson, a horticulturist well-known through)ut New Zealand as one of the most intelligent and discriminating in judging the value of plants: "I aotice you advertise the tree-straw-berry. I notice y.ur explanation of it is very guarded; you don't mention anything of its formidable horns nor it* inclination t) produce suckers. The plant I put in iboufc three month* b fore you saw it produce roots so freely that it filled a space fu'ly 83ft in circumference, In one instance I followed 1 root nine feet from the planf. Every ront wis thickly covered With buds. I c »n-ider it a most dangerous hiusf to distribute as it stania at jothing. Should it gat into our bush or rivsr bjach^s it will mean ruin to the owners. Sjch is ray op* iuion of R.ibu:3 S >rbifolia." Perhaps in tha fica of «ucb experience it will 03 wise so delay planting what is likely to be as great in evil as the Cilifjrnian thistle.— Yours, etc., NAIRN AND 80NS.