"ALARMING SPREAD"

Evening Star, Issue 25426, 6 March 1945, Page 4

"ALARMING SPREAD"

NOXIOUS WEEDS IN OTAGO Spreading over first and second grade country at the rate of 1,000 acres a year, the menace of manuka growth "was causing grave concern to the Otago council of the New Zealand Farmers' Union. Mr A. C. Craven told the Parliamentary Committee on Local Government this morning, when stressing the necessity of co-ordinated action by the counties and the _ Government in the eradication of noxious weeds. In the main, the counties seemed powerless to check the spread of such weeds as gorse, broom, manuka, ragwort, St, John's wort, and sweet briar. A vigorous policy of pressing farmers to eliminate their own noxious weeds and to keen boundaries clear would have disastrous effects in many cases, as. assuming that labour was available to deal with the problem, finance would be a stumbling block. Many farmers simply could not pay the necessary wages or provide the equipment to clear the land affected. The various subsidised labour schemes were costly and generally proved an unsatisfactory method of dealing with the problem on a big scale. The resources of the Cawthron Institute, the Government Agricultural Department, and the Scientific and Industrial Research Department should be harnessed in an effort to solve tho problem, and tho work of eradication should be undertaken on a national scale.