NOXIOUS WEEDS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 964, 3 November 1910, Page 4

NOXIOUS WEEDS.

I; THE GOVERNMENT'S INTENTIONS. i ; ' : '- "SOME FARMERS ALMOST IN I- : :%:;,':. • . .RGV.QLT.• , j : \:.;';:~V'DEBATE.VN■ , '■pA : RLIAIVIENT.' b" .-The. Noxious Weeds Amendment Bill :• was read a second time in the .'House i; }i Representatives on-Tuesday, evoning. I ■■! In the' course of 'the discussion, : ['/ 'Mr. MaicolmV,(Clutha) said the Bill ;. proposed-to carry-but. certain' demands ;'. that-had boon made, and .the principal j : clause.was that allowing farmers to call '■■■■'- evidence in their own defonco when they' j were ; prosecuted under the Noxious ! Weeds Act. Personally, he would like to !' boo the Noxious Weeds Act repealed nlto- [ gefchcr and the-. X)epartincrit' abolished, :■' buthe knew ho.would not bo supported i' in, this... The NoS-ious Weeds Act and !-.' the noxious weeds Department up to i date-had< been -a-fa-ilnre.- The ■■ Departi ment was costing- the country a great I deal of inonej bul/il was not preventr ing the spread'of noxious weeds. . The ; inspectors did their best, but . the : scheme beyond: them. If the Act -. was repealed some better scheme would '" have-to.be evolved.,"'ln many instances [■ / the "Gfovernmeni. 1 had been the-worst i. -sinners in allowing' noxious weeds to i grow-on-Grown-lands. (Hear, hear.)., k.: , ' Mr. .Buchanan-, (Wairarapa) said he ' lad had no difficulty in. getting sweet i, : briar off his property, and the Government could do the same if they set ebout :; "it .properly. A much more.ex- - haustive amendment could bo brought do'wn:'hoxt session ;to make the Act.a more! .useful one if the position was ■•.'. studied." "Personally, ho would strongly '• ppposo_any suggestion to. repeal the Act. ' '" ';■•■ . " 'Mr. .Anderson "(Mataura) .said that themode 1 of treating ,the Californian ....■ thistle had not been properly discussed , . by the Department. '■ : Better Chances for the Farmer. . .. Mr.-Witty (Riccarton) said the Bill .certainly gave the- farmer a better ; ' chance of protecting himself• thaa he had, before.' Ho ; thought there was a need-fora Pure Seeds Bill. In his district the local bodies assisted the in- - ; specters; in their work. - Before the Bill ■ •'. «ras repealed we should see that we were going- to get something better to re'V place it.;.,.- : {;, ■' : Mr.- Allen (Bruce),said some-farmers were almost in, a Estate of revolt, "and ■.; serious times were, ahead of the-De- ; • 'partmenthad some amendment not been '' ' made.'"" Ho would like to know if the ■•.;."Minister, would add .a. clause allowing ..,; : one, or two.assessors to sit alongside the magistrate.: .' He thought it would be Tinwisi'',to ; repeal- the" ; jS r oxious Weeds ■' Act, "as" had been, suggested; but rather . would it be-better: that .more money jhould be given- to: dealing with the itreedsonCrownUands. and.river banks. .The Minister:: The, river banks are for : fthe local bodibs in most cases where the lands , ire -'not privately owned. -. .•■;■■ ■'■■■■ Mr., Field (Ot*ki) did not think there ■were : inspectors;. at.- present., [What there wore'of'them, he thought; idid their work well. It was quite impossible for them, to cover such, la-rge districts as they had to go over. Thero were many districts that could be'kept clear, but there were others in .which harsh measures .should, not be used. In jhis.. district ..■farmers . were., being' threatened, by a./dangerous weed—tho. giant', thistle—whic ; h':N was flourishing from Johnsonville -to the Manawatu ■-. Kiverfe.The pest-demanded the atten- . tion of the Department, or it: would, lender large areas of land valueless; ■-•■ A : Blessing in Disguise. ~ v,l£r.:.,Hogg ■ (Masterton) thought the blessing in disv guise. Wherever a man had too much • land • and could not look after it, the noxious weeds came" up and punished . him. They were essential to proper :' :WtrtiY^tiom,±.lf..'.it;: l WiJs : 'these: .weeds, said Mr. Hogg, there would be .a. great amount of neglected land in : New Zealand. ...It. was the man who had . too much land'and who -did-not employ ' enough labour who complained. The ■■■ Hutt Valley was so full of.gorse a few yeaTS ago that.it almost seemed impos.sible to do anything with it..'-Now it : was full' of clear*paddocks and small farms. Ho proceeded to give other il:lnstrations of vrhere labour-had. succeeded over the noxious weed. The ■ oply complaint he had heard of late jraars.was from small farmers who got -,'■. noxious weeds.from big holdings adjoin- '. '-ing. The inspectors,- to his mind, had done good work. Ho thought the existing law had done good, and ho would be very sorry to see it removed from ■ the Statute Book. ...... :.'. . . (Ttfapeka) thought that it \jas. impossible to eradicate noxious ,i7eeds frDni New Zealand, and he believed it would be .best to keep-the land •', already clear free of weeds. ■ ■ ' "Mr. Buick (Palmerston) thought close .cultivation wouloVlead to the disap- . -pearance of the noxious weeds. The Governmont wero great sinners, and . they should pay-particular attention to the railway lines. The only genuine in- , •.' spectors we could have were the farmers themselves. Without this we coiild not success. He would like W see something put in. the Act to force tho Government to deal with the' weeds on its lands. . Mi. Parata: (Southern . Maori . District) did not think the Bill went far enough.' : and it;ha~d been brought doWii too late. If a Bill.had been passed before the weeds obtained so strong a hold, a great deal of trouble would have ; :. : been saved. The ; trouble was-the lazi-; ness of'those' whb' occupied lands on : l jvhich noxious weeds nourished. '■■.■■'■..Mγ. Ross (Pahiatua) : said ' tlio only part of tho Bill he had any sympathy -. with: was the part'compelling magis- : tratfis.to.hear evidence instead of relying solely on the inspectors. Mr./ G. M. Thomson (Dunedin North) agreed' that nothing but closo .settlement and cultivation.could eradi.cate noxious, weeds.. Ho hoped the in- , / spectors would use v discrotioii in ad- ■ ministering tho amendments to the _ Act. i ;■. Mr, Massey's Vi^ws. MrV Massey urged the importance of theJßjJl,.: Hβ was-sorry it had not been introduced two months ago, and referred to the Agricultural and Stock" Committee. The- old Act had not been . all it T .-should be, but it had done a great deal ia inducing the . ordinary country settler to check the growth of noxious--weeds.-h;The difficulty in the North Island was' the huge' area of Native and Crown" lands on which uoxi- . ous weeds were-' flourishing. He would like the Minister, to take a trip round Bome_of. the blackberry lands of theBorth. If ho did this, ho would'become ari-'advocato'of'tho settlement of the Native lands. If wo could find a cheap and" effective remedy for destroying -blackberries and- Galifornian thistle, it would bo worth a million pounds to the colony, and it,would be cheap at the . price!; •; ',' :, .', ■'■■.'" *" •Mr. Okoy (Taranaki) said ho would move in Committeo that if it was shown that a eettler, was endeavouring to clear away his noxious weeds by means of, Angora goats or other natural means he should not -como under the proviiriqns of tho Act. Cuttins blackberries, etc., only mado them grow stronger. - ."The rivers that run, the birds that fly, and tho winds that blow are responsible for tho spread of the weeds," said Mr. Wilford, in urging that local bodies should be mado to clear up thoir roads. Several other speakers also expressed their views. ;; Minister in Reply. Th» Hon. T.'- Mackenzio (in reply) said that what should bo aimed at was . keeping the districts that are now clear permanently clear.- ■ The T)Qo.artment

was checking the,blackberry.pest in tho south, ,and if the.'inspectors..did their chvty.it would. not' becomo the'trouble in the south', it .was. iii other .'parts. Tho"" Department was taking, all the measures it could to carry, out" tests for, preventive measures, and ho would take into consideration securing a pieco of land for testing purposes. " 'With tho amendments in this Bill ho..did not think thero would be aiiy heed to have an. assessor to sit with'tho magistrate. , lii ■'■ Committee ho would -lie'-prepared to.consider reasonable' amendments. Tho second reading; was--agreed to, and the Bill was set dowiv'iior committal. "'■ •■" . ' y '" r - '■'}] IN COMMITTEE. .. Tho Houso went into Committeo on tho Noxious Weeds Bill yesterday. . A new clauso was moved by Mr. Field (Otaki), to provide that where noxious ■weeds are growing on roads they shall be cleared by the, local .authority.: ■ On a division the clauso was. rejected, the .voting being:"Ayes, 19; Noes, 46. Mr. J. Allen (Bruce) moved an amendment to ..allow'of two assessors sitting with the magistrate in >ases uheror proccediugs for. the recovery of iany fine ara being '' .; . : .Oh.'a' division,, tho .amendment, was :idst:by/is to,48.■■,,::::.:;;" r:;r:: • The Bill was reported without amendment. . ,:■'..