PROMISING CHEMICAL

Press, Volume C, Issue 29466, 18 March 1961, Page 8

PROMISING CHEMICAL

Information about a chemical that is giving greater promise for control of sweet briar than those recently used was given to Mackenzie Country runholders at a meeting held this week under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture. Mr A. R. Dingwall, fields superintendent of the department in Christchurch, who for long has been interested in the briar problem. said that the new hormone material was TBA. Said to !be relatively effective against briar in the United States. Mr Dingwall said that it seemed to offer better promise of controlling briar because it would actually translocate—it would not only penetrate the woody material but it would also translocate or travel through the sap stream of the plant. In answer to a question. Mr Dingwall said that its use could not be recommended yet because no large-scale work had been done with it. but it was worth a trial. The largest block so far treated was only about l-20th of an acre and here the briar had not regenerated this autumn. Mentioning that the cost of putting this material on as a coverage spray would probably run into at least £32 an acre. Mr Dingwall said that chemical control would never be economic if it was only related to the area treated —it had to be related to the whole run. That was. of course, unless there was a chemical that was virtually given away.