The Press. SATURDAY, JULY-22, 1893. ERADICATION OF HORSE.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8541, 22 July 1893, Page 6

The Press. SATURDAY, JULY-22, 1893. ERADICATION OF HORSE.

j We have already our opinion I pretty strongly in reference to the Noxiou. Weeds Bill aVfieihg an utterly I unworkable measure stands, At I the same time it ia quite clear that a determined effort to be made for the extermination of sottiepf the weed pests with which ife\de'als. One of these is gorse. T'_is plant - is now so widespread in many parts of New Zealand as to be a -serious trouble. It is far more gf/iieral than the hateful briar usually called in this country the sweet briar; though probably the wild rose, or as it is known in England, the dog rose, infrequently mistaken for it. It is in rough unculti'vable hill country, where ths gorse threatens to be a real nuisance and so it will become, unless, the spread of it is checked. The seed is easily carried about by sheep in their wool, and also by flood water, and- it is usually by these means* that it is dispersed. The presenu is a suitable time for treating the question of eradication, as the season is now approaching when the first step towards the work should be undertaken. The blossoming time has come, and to save after labour ail plants or patches intended to be destroyed should be dealt with well in advance of the ripening period. The trouble in dealing with gores is not so much in the destruction of "existing plants as in the successive crops "oi seedlings which continue to grow up from the seed which has fallen *'m previous years. The advantage tJ?Vr_Core 'of preventing tbe seed from, Maturing is obvious. The ordinary practice of eradicating gorse is to stub up the plants at once. The great objection to this pr%c_ice is that in the process of stubbing much of the previously fallen seed is buried and cornea up at irregular intervals, causing much after work./The seed has extraordinary vitality, and may remain in the ground foij ma»iy iyears.. before germinating. Tho object should be to minimise this after' work as much as possible. The most effectual, and in the long run the cheapest, way of treating gorse which has seeded in the past is to cut* it down and lay the branches over the patch, there to remain till tihe following summer. In January o? February when the summer beat is ÜBually the greatest the cut brancho- . should be thoroughly dry and so should the ground under them. When, both these conditions are favour-able-hagorae should be burned. Ifthese conditions are not quite favourable it is 'better to postpone tbe operation uytil they are. With the branches 4ry and the soil dry too, the burn should be au absolutely clean one, and in these circumstances much of the seed will be destroyed by the fierceness of the fire. If there is any danger of the fire spreading where it is not wanted, tbe tussocks should be pared off with a sharp spade ail round the patch, and the tussocks thrown into the centre to be burned with the branches. They should not be thrown outside as they are certain to contain seed ia their butts. The patches being in this way thoroughly bared, most of the seed which escapes the fire will germinate as soon as the ground is sufficiency o-oist. The

surface not having been disturbed, the greater part of the seed will come away at the same time. The patches can now be left with advantage till the following summer, for no seeding will take place for that year if the burning is effected at the time stated, and the winter rains will favour the germination of such seed aa may be lying in the ground. At any convenient time ia the summer the stubbing may be proceeded with. The summer is decidedly the best season for the work, as the stubbed plants are not bo liable to take root again as in the winter. In following this course one stubbing gets rid of all growing plants little and big, and the subsequent work is much lessened. The centre of the patches should thus be nearly cleared of gorse for the future. It is the skirtings where the gorse branches have not reaohed, and consequently there has been no burn to bare the ground, that will afterwards give most trouble, for the fallen seed will have extended beyond the radius of the growing plants. However, the seed here has fallen less thickly, and the labour of cutting up the plants is proportionately less. But they must not be neglected. Great care must be taken that not a single plant seeds afterwards. Every spring at the flowering time the patches must be visited, and any plant, either flowering or that promises to flower, must be cut up. It is a good plan to sow the worked ground with a very heavy seeding of grass when the soil is sufficiently fallowed by exposure. The ground may be easily prepared for the seed by means of a hoe or drag rake. The young grass draws the stock on to the patches, and gorse plants that may spring from any remaining seed are often destroyed by the treading aud close cropping. Opinions vary as to the depth gorse should bo stubbed. This of course will depend much ou the size and age of the plants. Some persons imagine that if the plants are cut anywhere below the crown it is enough, but J;he experience of practical men is th'it less than a depth of six inches cannot) be depended upon to destroy gorse of fairly large growth. If the ground is rocky it may be necessary to move the rocks with a pickaxe or crowbar to get out the roots, and the extra labour is worth the pains to make a good job. As for single plants which may be scattered about rough oountry they must be hunted up, and much more systematically than is usually done. As the labour is ia finding these single plants and not ia cutting them up, care should bo taken to knock off all the earth from the roots so as to leave no chancy of the plants growing again, and care also muse be taken that not a single root is left uussevered; for a root the size of a pack thread, if not cut, will keep the plant alive. Single plants may be dealt with in this way at any time of the year. A shepherd supplied with a light mattock can often deal them in his ordinary rounds, though in the spring time, when the plants are in flower, they are more conspicuous. 1 So far the destruction of gorse on rough land, where the plough cannot ■ well be used, has been spoken of, but -the cutting; the gorse down ana layiqgf the branches, and subsequently burning them when. quite dry, is applicable to flat land. The labour though is much diminished by the use of the plough where the roots are not too strong. A strong plough, set deep, with starengfch enough in front of it will go through a mass of gorse roots in a way to astonish the uninitiated. But there are occasions when the implement is unequal to the work, and in such cases /hand stubbing has to be resorted to, As a final -word oi advice to those who have broken country with the misfortune of gorse fences, the fences should be trimmed annually and the trimmings left waere they fall. This plan Largely prevents seed from coming up under the fences and it also prevents the sheep from approaching close enough' to the fences to get seeds into their wool. For trim a fence as carefully as one may it is impossible to preyeat all aeed from ripening. Spare no trouble to destroy scattered single plants, for they -will form patches if left to grow up. If gorse has to run wild the labour in the firfit instance is considerable in dealing with it, but there is the satisfaction of knowing that the labour diminishes year by year.