MENACE OF GOAT'S RUE.

Shannon News, 16 January 1923, Page 3

MENACE OF GOAT'S RUE.

A PROBLEM FOR FARMERS. Every now and again something is heard at the County Council or Farm-

ers’ Union meetings o\ the nuisance on the farms aiong the Manawalu River of the plant known as goat’s rue. The visitor who happens along the middle reaches of the river will no doubt admire the plant growing so luxuriantly and showing such a wealth of pretty purple blooms. But when he is informed that this is no other than the much discussed (especially “cussed”) goat’s rue, which is neither use nor ornament, and is moreover monopolising increasing areas of good farm land every year, he joins with the farmer in saying hard things about noxious weeds generally and goat’s rue in particular. Maybe the visitor asks what brand of idiot imported the weed, and why, and when told that it was first planted in these parts in the Manawatu Gorge to help prevent land-slips—-but apparently didn’t stop them—he shakes his head knowingly and says, “Just what 1 lnought.” The other day a representative of the “Chronicle” was in the Kopularoa district, and had the opportunity of seeing the effects of the weed invasion on Mr J. McGill’s farm, which has its back boundary on the Maiiawatu River. . Here the weed has a strong hold, and wherever it was possible to get a footing the plant was growing in profusion, and so thick that it presented the appearance of a heavy crop of vetches ready for harvesting, being fully 4!L high. It was pointed out that where rue gets in no other vegetation lias a chance oi In ,ng, and the weed being useless for fodder purposes of Tiny kind, its occupation of the soil is a dead loss to the owner. Mr McGill has taken measures to fight the invasion, and last week a six-horse team was at work ploughing in an area of about fifteen acres which 'was carrying a dense growth of the weed. When turned over the ground will be sown down with a suitable smother crop to come away quickly and so hold the pest in check. An adjoining area had already been treated in this way and sown wi,th Japanese millet. The trouble with a crop that is harvested is that immediately it is cut the goat’s,rue comes away again as strong as eter. Oats have been found a good crop to check the weed, and there was no sign of its reappearance until after the oats were cut and stacked. Mr McGill says that constant cultivation is the only way of dealing with the weed. The luxuriance of the plant along the river flats is understood when the rich quality of the soil is taken into account. The land just ploughed and sown in millet was worked down very fine by the harrows only, and the growing qualities ol the land were seen in a garden close at hand, where ali classes of vegetables were growing prolifically. The land is too good to allow of its being monopolised by rue, but such are its tenacious qualities that constant war has to be maintained to keep it within bounds, and that is not too successful by any means. In the open ground it can be temporarily dealt with at least, but it has got a strong hold also in swamp and bush where it is impossible to cope with it. Mr McGill and numerous other owners along the river have a big problem in goat’s rue, and whether effective means can be found to eradicate it, only time and constant effort can tell