THE NOXIOUS WEEDS BILL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 177, 26 July 1907, Page 4

THE NOXIOUS WEEDS BILL.

No one at all familiar with the condition of our back-blocks and country roads can refuse sympathy for Mr R. McKenzie's Noxious Weeds Bill The spread of destructive weeds, more especially of gorse and the blackberry bramble, in this part of the world is rapidly aasujning the dimensions of a serious public danger, and something certainly ought to be done to check it. The new bill proposes to throw upon local bodies the duty of clearing the roads and reserves under their control, or of compelling occupiers to eradicate the weeds if they have spread from land fronting on public-roads. The principle of the bill strikes us as sound; but it would manifestly be inequitable to enforce such a law, unless it were applied to Crown lands. At present, as everybody knows, the Crown lands in this part of the colony are by far the worst sinners in the matter of noxious weeds; and it is absurd for Government to demand of struggling settlers that they shall clear their land and the road in front of their selections, while gorse and blackberry and thistles are allowed to flourish unchecked on adjoining Crown reserves, and to undo all the settlers' work before it is finished. If steps are taken to enforce the clearance of Crown lands and public reserves of all kinds, the heavy duty laid upon our settlers will be rendered much easier, or at all events their task will not be altogether hopeless. At the same time there is a good deal to be said against the compulsory extension of such an Act to Auckland district, where the large areas of Crown reserves and native lands supply an inexhaustible breeding ground for weeds, and the climatic conditions are unusually favourable to their growth. Mr. Stallworthy_ objection on behalf of his district is natural enough; but we think that possibly a way can be found out of the difficulty along the lines of Mr. Lewis' suggestion, that such a law should not be brought into operation in any district except by a vote of the majority of the settlers or residents. This seems a reasonable proposal, and we hope that more will be heard of it. But it is undeniable that the spread of our prolific noxious needs is retarding settlement, and is seriously reducing the value of our Tural lands; and unless Government sets a good example, and makes a vigorous effort to clear the Crown lands of these pests, very little permanent good can be expected from ■ the exertions of individual settlers, more especially under the difficult conditions that prevail in the isolated and long-neglected North.