KILLING BLACKBERRIES.

Shannon News, 25 September 1923, Page 3

KILLING BLACKBERRIES.

Though the snread of vivo blackberry bramble to clean areas is mostly due to its seed being carried there, in established c.uiurs its increase is mainly due to tin* ’ong arches or trailing brambles ix-coadng rooted at the tip*, and by .roesc means commencing the fn: rvnV’on of a fresh .flump, ’which, uah ’ : s checked, will ultimately become mi lgcd into one tangled mass. Blackberries have, a perennial rooting stock Avitbont lindei grouiiu ci-oup-ing, and their propagation is. usually by the means above mentioned. One of the steps towards blackbervv control should be to proA r eni this plant from fruiting Avherever possible. This could bo accomplished by either cutting down the brambles, burning them, or by spraying the bushes with .chemicals'

On cultivated land there need not be such very great difficulty in blackberry eradication. If the clumps or masses are old cstablisncd, these should be cut round by means of a horse-draAvn mowing machine, or else cut Avith a slasher.. The cut, material should be throAvn back on to the mass of uncut brambles, and left until fairly ■jury. Same : free-burning material, such as bushes or strarv, should be added so as to ensure a good burn. If the burn is not good, by reason o,f insufficient material, the brambles are merely scorched and toughened, and are-then more difficult to cut than they were previous to being fired. If there has been a go.od, clean burn, the roots can be completely dug out and ■ burnt, or the land can be ploughed during the Avarm weather, and often enough to prevent any neAV shoots arising and thus feeding any root stocks remaining in the ground. Repented cuttine- of now shoots Avill starve the root stocks, ultimately lulling- them; out cutting, l;o be effective, must be frequent and „..orough, the chief arm being to prevent leaf formation and thus starving the roots.

■The great difficulty with blackberry control is when this plant is growingon land of a rocky or stony nature, or on creek or river frontages or in situations that make cultivation either impracticable or undesirable on account of the danger of soil erosion during floods. In such eases cutting t’o prevent fruiting wifi control the plant without eradicating it, usually two cuttings a year being sufficient to stop its further spread. 'Phis is unsatisfactory, because the work has to be repeated year after year. It is cheaper to kill uiO roots and have done with them, and for this purpose chemicals could be employ'd. If an arsenical preparation is used the branches- should first be cut- and burnt, as already described; otherwise, if flic bushes are sprayed with arsenic, without previous cutting- and burning, the leaves drop off, leaving a jungle oi .cose canes that make their removal difficulp afterwards, cither by fire or by cutting. If a clean burn has been obtained; the shoots that will afterwards spring up can be easily destroyed -by the aisenical spray every time they make their appearance ’There arc at the present rime on the market some excellent preparations of arsenic of great solubility that should do away with the’ necessity of using the home-made preparations, I-lit for tlio.se preferring io prepare their own arsenical sprays, rhe following mixture can bo recommended as having given good results against blackberries:— . Boil together lib white arsenic, 21b washing soda, and two gallons water. When dissolving Use a slow fire, only allowing the mixture to simmer; if the solution is boiled rapidly there is a risk of the material boiling over. The liquid should become quite clear in about thirty minutes; then make it up to’ ten gallons. It is hot advisable to, make a concentrated stock of dissolved arsenic, as in all probability it will crystallise on becoming cold, necessitating it all being boiled over again. In spraying with arsenical mixtures one should stand with his-back to Ibr wind, so that tbe material will be carried away from the operator. As arsenical preparations are exceedingly poisonous, stock should always be removed from the land beingtreated with this chemical.