NOXIOUS WEEDS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 56, 29 November 1919, Page 12

NOXIOUS WEEDS

THE GOATS , RUE QUESTION.

(Special Correspondent.) Palmerstpn North, November 28. For some time past tie. question of tho spread of goats' rue .has been agitating the minds of farmers and land-holders'-along the lower reaches of. tho Miiimwntu River, and hundreds of acres aro being devastated aJinually. by this curse. In the rich lands of the llouton Swamp, for instance, this weed has grown to such an extent that it is impossible for a human being to get many yards into the ewamp, the growth of goats' rue being so dense that not c\sii cattle can get through it. Some of ' the county councils have declared, it a noxious weed, while others have declined to do so, urging that it was undesirable to put the Act into force in the lower regions, while no steps were taken to deal with the pest at its'source. A .Dominion representative, who paid a visit to what might be termed tho breeding, if not the distributing ground of the goats' rue, was astonished to find that jiist whero tho Manawatu Eiyer ohters the gorge on tho eastern „ sjde there nrp rich alluvial flats, on which nothing is growing but that weed. Ho was informed that in years long gone these flats were productive of very rich grass and root crops, but that is now a thing of.tho past. Some one introduced goats' rue us a sheep feed. At present the question of its introduction docs not materially matter, the main point being what, is the best thing to do to eradicate it at its source and prevent tho curse- (spreading. To .Hie lay mind it would appear that, if tho weed growing on these flats above the gorge were kept constantly cut and not allowed to seed, tho main source of supply would be. cut off, and this would nssist in stopping tho spreading. It is obvious that it is no use tackling the matter from the other end, while the breeding ground ia left untouched. It .may not bo generally known that goats' ruo has a very tough pod, pnmethins the shano of the lupin, in which tho seeds are enclosed, and thess iloat down the river with every fresh during the season, and as tho water recedes the pods aro left in tho eilt on the adjoining lands as tho river goes down, and tlio vegetation in the silt forms the finest proDuaatiiVß material that could 'lw got. TJnflcr tho circumstances there can be no wonder that the nest is making its nnpoaraneo at all (he low-lying 6nots along the river,'and unless steps nro tnken to check it nt the source, the loss to land owners must bo considerable. The matter is one of so much importance that tho question of dealing with it above ttyo gorge should be goiio into

HBWB AND NOTES

Nt once, not on!y by tlie local bodies interested, but by the Agricultural Department.