ERADICATING BLACKBERRY

Shannon News, 25 February 1927, Page 1

ERADICATING BLACKBERRY

AN INVERCARGILIi IDEA. Two Invercargill men in the persons of Mefsrs. Barry and Fenn have been experimenting with a liquid substance as an agent in the destruction of blackberry, and judging by the samples of treated blackberry brought into the "'News" office they have made a success of the job. It may not be generally known but the Department of Agriculture offers a substantial bonus to any one or any party that succeeds in perfecting" a machine or a spray, that will both .conomically and effectively eradicate this great pest—the blackberry. South -land u fortunate indeed in that the blackberry pest has not assured much greater proportions thorughout the Province; here it is certainly troublesome and costly to eradicate, but in parts of the North Island it has taken possession of much valuable land. So that this blackberry infested land may be recovered for agriculture, the Government has offered a handsome prize to the first pe-son who solves, to the Government satisfaction, the problem of the blackberry. ■ The method adopted by Messrs. Barry and Fenn is to spray a specially prepared mixture over the plant which then rapidly dies back so that it can be burnt; a further injection of the liquid into the root succeeds in killing the plant outright without doing any permanent injury to the land. Evidence of the efficiency of this treatment is found in the dead branches and roots of blackberry now covered over by luscious grass and clovers nine months after the patch had been treated. It is claimed htat bushes sprayed with the mixture are dead within a fortnight of its application. The cost is very low and the materials used in preparing the spray are easily obtainable. Various methods of applying this mixture suggest themselves and several have already been tried out. No doubt the future progress of the scheme will be watched with a good deal of interest.