BEES A PUBLIC MENACE.

Shannon News, 11 August 1922, Page 3

BEES A PUBLIC MENACE.

COUNCIL ORDERS THEIR REMOVAL At. its meeting on Tuesday* the Shannon Borough Council received a letter from Mr C. E. Veale asking that the Council should request Mr Gruniwald to remove his bees, as they were a danger to the children in the neighbourhood. He pointed out that there were 103 hives of bees, in the midst of an area where 21 children resided.

It was moved by Cr. Spencer, seconded by Cr. Hook, and carried that Mr Grumwald be given ten days’ notice to remove his bees, as they were a public ‘menace and nuisance, otherwise the Council will take action.

that this class forms a fair percentage of the growing flax; the loss to the millers from this poor flax must be considerable, and emphasises that selected plants would both raise the quality and increase the output of fibre. This, shortly, means making the business a profitable one or otherwise. ASSISTANCE WANTED. To bring the experiments to fruition will necessarily entail the application of a lot of time and attention, and the expenditure of a large sum of money. The sum advanced by the Association and Government is about exhausted on the preliminary work to date, and there is now further assistance wanted to carry on. It. is the intention of the Association to again approach the Government, and there appears every justification of further help bebeing given. On the success of the. experiments depends the future of the industry-, and finality is, therefore, essential. Moreover, this work is of national benefit, and not alone for those at present ehgaged in the industry. That being ffte case, the Association should receive assistance from the country to enable it to reach the desired object. It is the intention, when the young plants have sufficiently developed, to make them available to anyone in the Dominion. What that means to the country will be readily recognised, as having an important bearing on the industry. No doubt that factor will appeal to the Government, whose actions should be guided accordingly.

OTHER NOTABLE EXPERIMENTS,

It seems a necessary and 6()und principle that, these tests should be conducted in proximity to the flaxmill it-/ self, where everyone is engaged in

the industry, and where tlhe work will be constantly under observation, by those interested. In addition, the presence of the mill plant is available for fibre-testing work at any time, and this is a feature that'will determine very largely' the varieties of flax to foster and propagate. The present is fiy no means the first venture in research undertaken.

by Mr Seifert at Miranui, where he j has devoted a lot of time and energy \

to furthering our knowledge of the phormiuin tenax. | In order to test the value of differ- j ent kinds of fertilisers, he consulted [ an agricultural chemist some four

years ago about what were the best mixtures to use, and altogether, thirty plots are now under observation. The area ol each plot is nine-tenths of an acre, and ten different fertilisers are j being used, three plots being fer- J tilised with ,each mixture. One block oi fertilised plots is now being cut, and careful notes taken as to the quality of the leaf, the yield, and the qua-, lity of the fibre. It is anticipated that the results of these teste will give a definite line as to the effect of fertilising and the best mixture to use in the

Makerua Swamp. A plot of about three acres is now

used at. Miranui to grow Lire different varieties of flax, so that these can be kept, under observation for the purpose of ascertaining the yield and the quality of the fibre given by each variety when grown in the same class of soil. It will, also give the employees an opportunity to observe the different kinds of flax, and by that means it is hoped to greatly extend the knowledge of the flax plant. In addition to tins plot, healthy plants have been selected

from a fairly large area in which the flax was badly diseased. A number of plants which remained healthy were taken up and planted in 1£ acres of land situated in the midst of the diseased area, and these are now kept under observation for the purpose ot' seeing if disease resisting plants can -remain healthy in an area badly in-

fected with the yellow leaf disease. Directly in front of the mill, too, the growing of seedlings by Mr Smerle, under different conditions, and the grow-! ing from mature plants, are also' in ( progress ,and_ the culture affords an j interesting lesson. All this work is j pregnant with possibilities, though the ,

larger scheme of the Association is the j one from which more far- j reaching results will be ac-1 hieved. It will become of more and more value as time goes on, and the fruits of the labour expended commence to.be reaped, and healthy, ugorous plants 'are made available for distribution. The Association is to be congratulated on its initiative and the splendid work it. has launched—A ’

work that is worthy of every encouragement and.'support;