Search For Agent To Kill Briar

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29916, 1 September 1962, Page 6

Search For Agent To Kill Briar

yHE Entomology' Division 1 of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has begun investigations into the possibilities of controlling sweet briar by biological means.

In a statement in the latest issue of "Review." the journal of the Tussock Grasslands and Mountain Lands Institute, the director of the division. Dr. W. Cottier, says that funds have been provided for the Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control to make a search in appropriate parts of the world for biological agents. The Commonwealth Institute oi Biological Control is a Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau organisation established to provide natural enemies of insect pests and weeds in the Commonwealth Its headquarters are at present in Ottawa, and it has stations in California. Switzerland. India. Pakistan, and the West Indies, but il searches for biological control agents all over the world. Survey “The current work for us on sweet briar is at presen' being carried out by the station at Delemont. in Switzerland, and has been in progress since August, 1961 Areas surveyed so far have been different areas in Switzerland and in the Rhine valley, south-west Germany So far 11 insects, including five saw-flies, two moth species. a fruit fly breeding in the hips, a gall wasp ahd two species of gall midges have been taken from 'various Rosa species. Really onl; one species, a saw-fly. shows promise as a biolgical control agent and the trouble with this is that it is reported also to attack garden roses However, the surivej has really only started anc

has been going for less than one full season.

“It must be fully realised that sweet briar is closely related to roses, raspberries and boysenberries and that the problem of finding something that will destroy sweet briar but not other related plants is a very real one. Should it be possible to find in some part of the world

an insect, fungus or virus that destroys sweet briar satisfactorily, there will still be a great deal of work required in the way of plant tests and starvation tests to decide whether the agent can be introduced into our environment without danger to useful plants. “At present we have nothing suitable in view, but we will continue the search until the field has been satisfactorily explored. It is emphasised that we might easily come to the conclusion that nothing suitable seems to be available, but unless we make an investigation we just will not know what is possible.”