RAGWORT CONTROL

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LVIII, Issue 70, 3 September 1937, Page 6

RAGWORT CONTROL

HEAVY GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE.

ASSISTANCE TO COUNTY

COUNCILS

The campaign initiated last season by the Government against the ragwort menace has resulted in an outstanding improvement in those districts where it was vigorously carried out, and this season it has been decided not only to enlarge the scape of the work, but also to commence operations at an earlier date. In making this announcement, the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, said that the total Government expenditure on ragwort control in the next few months would be about £75,000, including nearly £40,000 in wages.

"The scheme which has been formulated will apply primarily to unoccupied Crown and Native lands, abandoned properties, farms' of indigent owners, and other selected types of land where occupiers cannot be forced to carry out the requirements of the Noxious Weeds Act without assistance," said the Minister. "The work will be performed by unemployed labour, and in the main administered by the county councils under the direction of the Department of Agriculture. The county councils are to be granted the use of certified unemployed labour on condition that they pay the men 16s per day for a 40-hour week, plus Is per man per day for foremen. The Labour Department is to contribute 14s of the daily wages of the men, and the remainder will be found by the Department of Agriculture, which will also reimburse the county councils for the cost of material and the transport of the men and material. The department has allocated £1000 for the provision of sodium chlorate or atlacide for use under special conditions.

"I may mention that this campaign is additional to the scientific investigations which are being carried out by botanists and chemists of the department into effective methods of eradicating ragwort," said Mr Lee Martin. "The work of these experts has recently been intensified and every effort ;s being made to find an effective method of ridding our pasture of this menacing weed."

In conclusion, the Minister paid a tribute to the spontaneous and whole-hearted co-operation that the Department of Agriculture had received from the county councils. "Without that co-operation," he said, "it would have been impossible to carry out the scheme. The counties have realised the seriousness of the position, and have played a vital part in the work." '