LOST LANDS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17701, 1 March 1923, Page 11

LOST LANDS.

PRICKLY PEAR IN AUSTRALIA. Cnou on omr couinomii) SYDNEY, February 22. The prickly pear peat is becoming an increasingly formidable problem in New South Wales and Queensland. Enormous tracts of country have been engulfed. The latest return for the area in New South Wales given over tor t«he pe&b ia 6,000,000 acres. Toe Northern state ia said to have 27,WW,UUU 'wires mtestedi. ■' Investigations iulvo been nuui© many times in tne jKi&t, uo&n in Aew boutH Wales ana in yatseiialanu, i>ut wiiaujvef may mive been the piaoucabmty or otnwwiae of tneir revolts and recommendations, the pest xiaa gone on spreading relentleoSiy, unchecked by settlers or liovei'wiwnta. i'he estimate of the lost lands in jNt>w bouth, Wale* in i.M2i wua 3,6<jO,ijUO aores, and it is illustrative of me rapidity with which laj ge areas spread as complied with small ones tnat it suouid be nearly, doubted between iiCil and J.W3, wbereda in 1911 the covered, area was iSyIIXJjOUO acres. Ten. tiiOUiSiUi-dJ acires within 30 miles of cJydney ai - a growing nothing but prickly pear. As so much ox the land is ol second quality, there ia no hope of getting it cleared, as it would nover repay Uio expenditure, but wiiile the pndily is there it is a grave danger. V ast areas are doomed to b6 locked up for ail unio uiiieas someone should discover a vv 'ay of jawing rid of it easily. The JNew -South \\ ; ales Government proposes to treat the problem as extremely urgent, and push a Hill through Puiiiar nient to make provision lor noii-inie&ieJ. areas to be kept clean, owners to b*» assisted to clear, and authority to give tree grants of land where the cost of oleai'mg does not debar the attempt. There have been many ventures in connexion -with the peat, for tne reward will be great if a sucoestsxul destructor is found. The cactus, which was origutally brought to Australia either as an ornamental shrub or for the cultivation of cociiiueal, does not thrive close to the .coast, it contains many valuable elements, auoh as potash, mucilage, and alconol, but 90 per cent, of it is water, and no drought will kill it. United action between Queensland and New South Wales to check the spread of the pest is now being arranged. Tho Queensland Government has appointed a itoyal Commission to go thoroughly mtp tho matter, and on their report legislative action will be taken. In the meanwhile, a poison factory has been opened at Warwick, in Queensland, wnicsh is demonstrating that much good ■work_ can be done by the use of sulphuric acid.