WEEDS.

Shannon News, 13 April 1928, Page 3

WEEDS.

THEIR ERADICATION WORTH MILLIONS. Every New Zealand farmer should look on weeds as being chief among his worst enemies, and it is to be feared that too many look on them with more or less indifference, writes Mr. Primrose McConnell in the April issue of the • New Zealand Farmer. Throughout all ages, and in all* countries, the cultivators of the soil have had to wage constant war with u»eeds : and had they not done so the cultivation of food crops would have become an impossibility. In a report of Reading College Farm it is stated that the difference in yield between “no weeding ” and keeping clean by hand, after the mangel crop was singled, was as that between 100 and 240, the actual yields being 16i tons and 39 tons respectively. A weedy plot of potatoes yielded 4 tons lOcwt per acre,, while a clean plot yielded 8 tons IScwt.

Two plots of oats infested with charlock yielded 45 and 24 bushels respectively, while plots kept free from the weeds gave 67 and 76 bushels respectively. And what of the .weeds that

infest our pastures? The loss arising annually from their presence must be

enormous—almost beyond calculation — and, unfortunately, w« have no effectual remedy. Certain weeds may be smothered out by stimulating the growth of grasses and clovers with suitable topdressings, but a great many remain in spite of our best efforts. Climate and the pioneering system of farming have developed the weed evil to such an extent that it may be safely stated that half of the land in New Zealand is occupied by weeds, or plants that might be replaced by others more valuable from a farmer's standpoint. Land absolutely free from weeds is an impossibility, but if the weeds in New Zealand could be reduced by one-half, the monetary advantage would run into millions, and

by the aid of a little more care in cultivating operations, no practical farmer will deny that this curse can be mitigated very greatly. Good arable land may be seen that is growing nothing but weeds. In many instances, the evil is caused by farmers trying to cultivate large farms with an expenditure of labour that might be more profitably applied to half the area. Take the thistle, for instance, which is not by any means one of the worst of our weeds. Not to mention the moisture that it removes, it takes from the soil 17 per cent, as much nitrog'er as there ,is in clover, and it covers a very great deal of land that might be occupied by profitable plants. It should be convincingly obvious to all farmers that weeds must have food like all other plants, consequently thej deprive a crop, or a pasture, of a larg, amount of available nourishment; anu when not checked, weeds almost invari ably grow more vigorously than the desired plants. Certain weeds will take more potash and lime out of the soithan two good crops of grain from the same area. On arable farms there i> often too much unploughed land adjoin ing the fences and hedgerows, on which' numberless weeds flourish and seed Such places arc ideal breeding ground; for insects that are injurious to cul tivated plants; so much so that in cer tain parts of Europe the weeding Oi hedgerows is compulsory, and, in many cases, fences of any kind have beei done away with entirely. Many plant

diseases have been traced back tc. weeds as a source of infection/ am some weeds are directly injurious t< farm live stock. Weed seeds are distri buted by numerous agents, some o: which it is almost impossible to con trol; but this only shows more clearh the great necessity of taking extrenn care. when dealing with weeds and their seeds.

' In the meantime, we must do our besl to kill the weeds with the means at oui disposal, and, in order to save money and labour in the work of destruction, the weeds must be dealt with in tin initial Stage of their growth. On arabk land, many weeds may be complete!} buried with the plough, but' the seed; will lie dormant for many years, ant germinate when the land is ploughet again. Nevertheless, it is a great mat ter to destroy existing weeds; and, it ■ the seedlings are taken in time, tlicii destruction will not be costly. It it »often of great advantage to delay sow ing- farm crops, so that the land may be repeatedly harrowed, and the weedskilled Is soon as the seeds germinate. The intensive farmer, who is growing two crops on the same soil each year, provided he takes care to sow clean seed, can keep his land cleaner, and at less cost than he who is only grow ing one crop, because the land is often stirred, and weed seeds brought within germinating distance of the surface.

Young, ambitious farmers are often laughed at by their elders- when they attempt to seriously tackle this weed problem, and those elders point out that they could always make their farms pay with little or no outlay in weed eradication. Quite so; but our elders forget that they got possession of tho land when it was in a weed-free state, and contained all its natural fertility, which they have whipped up to its last gasp, and it has served them their lifetime. fidt in what kind of state, in the average case, has the land been left? A legacy of more or less exhausted and weed-infested land has been handed

over, and all but the most bigoted will admit that those evils cannot be remedied by farming on the old lines. It is certainly a mighty problem, and in many instances will be an exceedingly costly one ; but it must bo tackled sooner or later, or a portion of the lanr will go out of cultivation entirely.