THE RAGWORT MENACE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 274, 7 February 1929, Page 5

THE RAGWORT MENACE.

A SERIOUS DANGER. «r . Spreading in the District. Many complaints are being made ■by local farmers 'with regard to the - ragwort menace. Those who com- - plain realise the great seriousness of the position and the danger to the farming industry from this noxious weed which conveys death to stock in an insidious form. These wideawake fanners realise that unless something is done immediately, and in drastic form, this menace may result in disastrous consequences to the business which they have built up so

laboriously. In the Putaruru district ragwort has spread in recent years in an alarming manner.' In some parts it .has taken possession of large blocks, -and waving masses of yellow bloom meet the eye in every direction. It is by no means confined to this district, however, and throughout the whole of the Waikato, and also in other parts, this noxious weed is spreading in an alarming manner largely as a result of the policy of “do nothing ” laid down by the late Ministers of Agriculture and Lands. It was poor policy to ease off enforcing regulations simply because farmers were “up against it,” and there is no question but that the farming community is now reaping the harvest that was sown as the result of ffoolish laxity on the part of the powers that were.

Eigorous action is now needed to ■deal with -the situation, firstly by way ‘of educating farmers and others to “the habits of the plants, and secondly ■by way of seeing that pressure is brought'to bear to compel farmers to deal with the evil by cutting and stocking. In regard to the first it is rather amazing to notice that many farmers are carefully cutting the plants while in bloom and then leaving them lie. This is only waste labour, for there is sufficient sap in the stalks to ripen the seeds, as a glance at any of the cut plants which have withered will show. Others have adopted the habit of carefully carrying the blooming ■plants from their sections and dropping them in the ruts in roads for every motor vehicle which passes to pick up the seed and spread it to new areas. To successfully deal with the plant at' this season it must be wholly burned, and if this is not possible then at least the flowers, if not too far matured, should be nipped off so that they cannot ripen the seed. In regard to compelling owners of land'to clear the weed, many people have the mistaken idea that town hoards and county councils have some jurisdiction in the matter. This is not so, and the only person who has authority to enforce the regulations on the matter is the Inspector for Noxious Weeds. Without assistance, however, his task is a hopeless one, and the local inspector, had he nothing else to attend to, could not possibly deal with the ragwort trouble successfully in the large area he has to cover.

The menace is a serious one, and so great a hold has this noxious weed in a great many districts that the only possible means of combating the evil would seem to be the appointment of special inspectors whose sole duty it would be to deal with this trouble alone. The matter has been shelved too long, and in the interests of farmers themselves drastic steps must be taken. This is the opinion of a large proportion of farmers not only in this district but in other parts.

DISCUSSED BY CHAMBEK. Putaruru Views. At Monday’s meeting of the Putaruru Chamber of Commerce Mr. J. Tt. O. Lochhead said he thought members should discuss the ragwort question. Some people might say it was not a matter for the chamber to deal ■with but he did not agree with that view. Anything which affected the farmer was of interest to the town and if the farming industry was menaced it would affect the prosperity of the town. In his opinion members should take an interest in all things affecting the' farmer. So far as he could see the big trouble was that the supervision which should be available in dealing with the menace was not available. In taking this viewpoint there- was of course no suggestion of ~ apathy on the' part of the. inspector, who -was at present, covering *h, area which up to a few years ago represented three districts. It was thus Impossible for him to cover the ground even if he had nothing else to do, while as a matter of fact

everyone knew that inspectors were loaded with multifarious duties! Kagwort hacj undoubtedly become a very serious menace in the district and he had heard that a farmer with what had been described as a model dairy farm at V/ aotu was considering going in for sheep as a result of the spread of the weed. Mr. Dukeson thought the council members should be taken up the back road on a trip. (Laughter.) Mr. Griffiths pointed out that was ! a mistake many people made. Nei-

ther the town board nor the county council had any jurisdiction in the matter. Mr. Dukeson : But they are responsible for the road. Mr. Lochhead : No, that duty falls on the property owners. Mr. Dukeson: But the Town Board is responsible for the Domain, then ? Mr. Griffiths : Yes, and they should deal with it. * However, these men were approached to clean up the hall grounds but they were all too busy. Mr. Benton said that 25 years ago the district was absolutely clean, though there were plants on the bush clearings. He recalled an inspector who came from Hawke’s Bay telling farmers to watch that plant (ragwort) and warned them that if they did not it would drive them off their farms. They laughed then, but people were not laughing to-day. On the motion of Messrs. Lochhead and Simpson it was decided that a memo be sent to the Minister of Agriculture on the ~iatt :r, urging that immediate and fi-asUe steps be taken to deal with the w eed.