VALUABLE GOATS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20110, 2 December 1939, Page 15

VALUABLE GOATS

WORK ON BLACKBERRY CLEARING WAIROA FARM

OPOHO STATION METHOD COMPLETE ERADICATION The part played by goats in the eradication of blackberry on the East Coast district of Northern Hawke's Bay cannot be too highly commended. Very considerable areas which had been completely abandoned because of blackberry have in recent years been rehabilitated, and are now carrying pasture and breeding, and fattening sheep and cattle. Without goats this would never have been accomplished. However, the goats alone are not the sole means of blackberry control, but goats coupled with good fences, the fire stick, and grass seed and topdressing can certainlv work wonders

The experience of the Opoho station is an example of how this may be accomplished. Parts of this property were badly infested with blackberry, and in 1934 Mr. J. W. Powdrell realised that something would have to be done to arrest the blackberry from spreading to clean areas. A number of goats were obtained, but they vvere insufficient to cope with the blackberry, and it took some time before the mob increased enough to demonstrate their value. It was then realised that if the goats were to be really effective in blackberry control the fences must be goat-proof, so that the animals could be controlled. 70 Acres of Flat

The first area to be cleaned up in June, 1939, was carrying five sheep to the acre, as well as two goats per acre. This area was fiat and of approximately 70 acres, and was completely overgrown by blackberry 10 feet high. It was also swampy and badly drained. In the early autumn of 1938 the area was burnt, and two months latqr the larger clumps which had not burnt up were again fired. The result of these burnings left a tangled mass of burnt and charred blackberry vines

It was just possible then for men to scramble through and sow grass seed, and when this was completed the land was drained and completely ring-fenced with an eight-wire fence (3in barb top and bottom). By June the grass was sufficiently established for it to be stocked, and a mob of 200 goats and 300 sheep were turned on. Stocking has been continued in varying numbers right through until the present time.

During the first winter the sheep confined Khemsclves to eating the grass, but the goats preferred the blackberry vines and greedily ate everything in reach, until by the end of the winter they had climbed up and pulled down every stalk. During the summer months an increased t.umber of sheep were carried to keep down the grass, and there were never fewer than two goats per acre as well. By February every blackberry bush was fiat on the ground, and it was a common sight to see the goats scratching the sticks to get at any vounger shoots which were still coming through and also holding down with, their hoofs the dry dead vines while they chewed them. Burning Unwise As so much dead material was left on the ground it was thought worth while to drop a match in the heaps, which were dry and burned readily. However, only a limited amount was treated in this way, and liter events proved this burning to be unwise, as it was found that, where burnt, all the young grass had been killed out. but where the heaps of vines had been left, in three months the goats had completely either eaten them up or pulverised them with their hoofs leaving an excellent sole of grass where the heaps had been. The area was topdressed with superphosphate ‘in March, and in June was all in first-rate ryegrass-white clover pasture, having carried almost continually since first stocking in June, 1938, varying numbers of sheep, and _ always two goats per acre. Judicious stocking, with both 'goats and sheep will be necessary for at least a further twelve months in order that any blackberry plants which still persist in sending up shoots may be killed.

This area has been, developed at very small cost. Labour costs havp been negligible, no clearing has been r.e.cessa'ry. and the only expense has been grass seed, some topdressing, and a drain. The fencing being a permanent improvement, cannot be charged against the work. Other paddocks on steep hillsides are being dealt with in the same manner and with equally successful results. Fencing and Management Mr. Powdrell points out, however, that nothing can be accomplished without good fences to hold the goats where required. If properly managed, goats may be carried on blackberryinfested country without any diminution of sheep-carrying capacity. Goats do their best work in the winter months, as at that time, no matter how much grass is available, they confine themselves to eating the wood and vines of the blackberry. They will keep chewing at bushes until every leaf and branch within reach is eaten, and they will follow this by climbing up over the bushes until the whole bush is weighed down to the ground and they can complete the chewing process until nothing is left.

It is in the spring and autumn months that good fences are .so necessary, as at this period there is ample green grass, and this appears more palatable to them than the young ;iulcy shoots of the blackberry. During these periods the goats must be crowded together with sheep .so that they all are compelled to eat the blackberry shoots. This may be done without anv harmful effects te sheep, particularly if the mobs of sheep are changed and not left on the seme area too long. The management of goats must be studied. They must be quietened and trained to dogs and mustering. Two crcps of young goats occur in a year, one in May and the other in November, and about these periods all mobs are handled and young males castrated.

It is the practice never to allow more than two male goats to run out with every hundred females, and in this way a healthy mob of goats is maintained.—Mr. R. P. Hill, fields instructor, Hastings, in the Journal of Agriculture.