EARLY RAGWORT GROWTH IS A PROBLEM

Grey River Argus, 16 January 1948, Page 7

EARLY RAGWORT GROWTH IS A PROBLEM

Grey County Council Discusses Position

As a result of the recent storms preceded and followed by warm weather, the dangerous noxious weed, ragwort, has come to maturity early this year on the West Coast. Farmers and settlers in the Grey County have expressed concern at the early and abundant growth of the weed, and at the meeting of the Grey County Council yesterday it was decided that work will commence as soon as possible. A group of ex-servicemen had requested the Council for the job of eradicating the ragwort on contract, and the Council will review the position.

The Department of Agriculture makes an annual allowance of about £7OO to the Grey County for the destruction of ragwort, and as the. Engineer, Mr H. E. Higgins, stated that he would need all his men for bridge maintenance work, he favoured the contract suggestion.

The opinion of the Department of Agriculture on the matter dfculd not be ascertained until the field inspector returned to Greymouth, but it was expected that as soon as he was available, a meeting of the district Ragwort Committee would be convened. As the assistance for the season finished in March, application for the amount of subsidy would have to be made before then. Of recent years the ragwort position on the West Coast has got out of hand. With the war years, eradication work was left largely unattended, and it has only been during the past two years that it has been resumed. This year's growth is expected to pose partciular problems for the workers.