NOXIOUS WEEDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 337, 12 March 1910, Page 4

NOXIOUS WEEDS.

THE SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS' I WORRIES. The subject of noxious weeds cropped up several times ut yesterday's meeting of the School Commissioners' Board, and the report of the secretary indicated I'liat at lea»t one of the noxious weeds inspectors was determined to bring offenders to book, it had been reported to the inspector tiiat a sublessee mi one of the Board's reserves was not attending to the eradication of doing' anything to check the spread of blackberry and ragwort on his) section. The inspector grew tired of endeavouring to interview the occupier, and Decided to take drastic steps. So lie affixed a notice to the gate intimating that unless the occupier cleared the place of weeds in so many days, men Nvould be put on to do the work and the cost charged to the occupier.—The members! of the Board unanimously approved of the drastic steps taken, and the hope was expressed that such methods, which were the most likely 10 prove effective, would be generally adopted. At another stage in the meeting the chairman reported the complaint of a tenant that a freehold property adjoining his leasehold was' being overrun with noxious weeks, and these were oeing allowed to seed, with the result that the winds and the birds were -distributing. .them over his farm. As the Board kn<>w, this particular lessee nad ever evinced a desire to prevent the spread of weeds on his holding, and had ;worked at them most assiduously, with the result that, with the exception of the' seedlings which made their appearance as the resfult of aforesaid neighbour's neglect, ihis farm was practically clean, and had never been advers"ly criticised by either th<? Board's ranger or the Government inspectors, the chairman had told him that he had one course open to him, and that was to make his complaint to the inspector. This, however, he would not do, stating that eventually it would only lead to "bad Wood" between him and his neighbour. It was decided to call the attention of the noxious weeds inspector to this case, and to request him' to take some active .«iteps immediately in the interest of the Board and its lessee.

, The chairman pointed out that this (jues'tioai of the spread of noxious weeds had an alarming significance for tlie Board. Thev 'had one or two properties which, owing to indifferent farming methods t>y lessees, had degenerated into veritable furze brakes and •hot-beds for the propagation of blackberry and ragwort. Tenants had taken up tlio lands from time to time, but the weed trouble had completely cripplied them, and again and again the plants were allowed to increflse nod multiply. Tt followed that the Board itself had to undertake the work of cheeking the weeds, and on one section alone last year tlie cost to the Board liad been £BO or thereabouts. No one would lease such lands from them, for very often they were, small sections. The. Board thus lost revenue venr by year by the land being unlet, and 'n addition had. 'to . hear the cost of t'le work that would fill upon a tenant if thev had. one.

-This led to a. discussion unon the present, administration of the Agricultural Department in respect of noxious weeds'. "To have the inspectors going ."' out, onlv at this time of the year is i farce, and nothing but a farce," said one of tlie commissioners. "The blackberries have ripened, and the birds have been busv oarryinf? the seed all ovv the country; and the ragwort is in full bloom." TTe considered that the inspectors.' should be on their rounds compelling ' the cutting of blackberries in December and January, so as to prevent the fruitforcing and ripening. As it was, the inspectors "got on the lob" just when the blackberries had done practically all- the damage they could do in one season.

Presently the secretary read the report of tlie board's own ranger, and it wn.c! decided to request him to commence lifs inspection tour earlier in t : -.e season. Mr Marchant wrote that tie had covered practically tlie whole of the reserves in this province, and most of the sections were in ?. satisfactory ■state, some of them entirelv satisfactory. Oh other holdings there was room for comnlaint, and he had made two. three and four visits to some, whilst on one particular property in the Tnelowood district he had had a "second strong conversation" with the Ipscpp. which he believed would have a food effect. He intended <ro ; "<r through the Whangamontona and Olwra. districts n°xt. and hoped tn his h!c infection ; n about «i v weeks' time. Mr Marchant reported that the reon t.he Manganui town belt wa* still in an unsatisfactory stHe. the Canadian thistle being still nnattend'd to and unchecked, yun'hev? remar' -n d that it was extremely fortunate that the Hana(Van thistle—which i-' nracticallv the same thing as the California t),:«t]c_does not snrend in Tarmaki soil « if rlid in the south. There had b° n r..nirlinn thistle on thi = li'-onertv for ovei- twentv ve<irs, and it had not. spread tr> tiip pronort'pe. For th:faet the farmers of Tarnnaki >d VM +0 bo "votefiil. in v ! ""- «? the vrnoli.-ify of tlu. soil in regard to grrse, blackberry and ragwort.