H.—29a.

16

to the adjoining farmers. Every endeavour is made to control weeds on these reserves, but the allocation of available moneys does not always permit of as complete a control as could be desired. The Hon. Minister of Native Affairs has an allocation of money for the control of weeds on Native lands. This is expended in the same manner as already described in relation to Crown lands. There is the added complication of the Native titles. It is in practice seldom possible to induce the Native owner to control weeds, or to claim successfully the cost of clearing, if it has been found necessary that the Inspector has so cleared them. The liability for weed-control, or the means of recovery for the cost of clearing, is in practice only possible when the land has not only been individualized but also allocated to the individual. There is greater irritation, over weed-infested reserves and Crown and Native lands that adjoin occupied areas than from any other cause. There comes into this the fact that the control cannot be truly effective unless a much larger appropriation of funds is available than has been provided in the past. With such an increased amount of money reserves could, of course, be more effectively dealt with. Crown lands cannot well be more thoroughly cleared of weeds: formation, quality of soil, and extent preclude. It should be, however, a recommendation that those more immediately affecting settlement should receive the greatest possible attention. Native lands are being but slowly brought under control. There is the possible consideration that local authorities may be associated with the departmental officers in an advisory capacity. In this there is the limitation that all local authorities are naturally unwilling to place themselves in a position of antagonism between themselves and the immediate community. The other consideration, if it be decided to reopen the whole question, it is submitted, is that the first measure should be the appointment of a Commission that would investigate the whole subject. Such a Commission should include agriculturists, scientific and professional men, as well as certain officials. The field would be—weeds to be controlled; means, other than manual; districts that should be under control (the clear definition of the position); is the present administration recommended to the support of the community; should it be altered, and in what manner? The one chief result would be that the community would so secure advice that could be relied upon. If it came about that the administration of the present be endorsed there would be obtained the confidence of the public in the Department that may be accepted as the chief reason for the present unrest. If present conditions are deemed unsatisfactory, the earlier this becomes known the better for the Department and for the community. There is also the recommendation that the services of scientists should be constantly availed of. It may finally be submitted for your consideration that the present control is at least reasonably effective, that it has been conspicuously impartial and fair, that it has avoided unnecessary irritation, that it is operated with discretion, and that in this there is a warrant for the confidence of the community to continue its support to officers of the Department. 28th September, 1916. E. Clifton.

Report of Mr. A. H. Cockayne. Weed-survey Circulars. About eight hundred replies to the forms sent out by the Board of Agriculture have been received, and much valuable information has been secured. The following notes, based on the reports, are submitted only as a resume, and it is proposed to prepare a much more detailed report in a form suitable for publication in the Departmental Journal if such a course meets with the approval of your Board. Need for Detailed Weed-survey. The very contradictory reports that have been received from farmers in the same locality show that in many cases the type of land and the utilization to which it is put has a great bearing on the farmer's individual opinion as to what constitute the worst weeds and what methods should be adopted. From this I consider that a proper weed-survey should be undertaken by the Department. The Field Inspectors are quite capable of carrying out this work, and special attention should be given to the type of ground on which weeds are a serious source of loss, and the general types of management that should be adopted and which are practicable. During the course of this survey each officer could map out with a fair degree of accuracy the different types of ground and different methods of soil-utilization that call for different methods of control, even for the same weed in the same district. In this way a good deal of the difficulty at present existing in dividing the country into belts where different types of weed-control should really be carried out could be got jver. Each Inspector could carefully consider and get together all the different methods adopted and suggest improvements in the type of farm-management that would increase the efficacy of any method. Finally, when the work was completed, a weedmap of each district could be worked out and reasonable methods of control formulated for different areas.