NOXIOUS WEEDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 109, 11 May 1927, Page 8

NOXIOUS WEEDS.

DESTRUCTION BY INSECTS. EXPERIMENTS IN PROGRESS. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. • The control of noxious weeds by means of insects is one of the problems which ia the concern of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research at the Cawthron Institute. Dr. R. J. Tillyard and his assistants have been carrying on numerous experiments, and his first quarterly report has just been issued. . The report states that'for the purpose of research six new iheectariee have been built and equipped,. each being 12ft square." The insectaries are inspected regularly each morning and evening, and any damage noted is at once repaired. In starvation other .tests the .insects are enclosed in muslin or gauze cages placed over or round plants or portions of plants inside the- insectaries, thus iffording additional .protection. ... ' There are three main methods of testing, which are applied to all insects introduced for the - control of noxious .veeda. These are (1) oviposition tests; ,2) starvation tests; and (3) preference .ests. Too report details the tests and ..he results which may be obtairied. Naturally no finality has been reached as ■yet in these -$esta> but muoh valuable information has already, bean obtained, and there is every indication that in time some of the insects being experimented with will be found to be powerful agents n the extermination of noxious weeds. Among the weeds being concentrated upon are blackberry, foxglove, gorse, ind ragwort.