BLACKBERRY CONTROL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 21 September 1927, Page 7

BLACKBERRY CONTROL.

PROGRESS OF EXPERIMENTS. (BY TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION.) NELSON, Sept. 21. Interviewed in regard to the recent cable from England m which it was stated scientists were disappointed with the caterpillar on which they were relying to kill blackberry, owing to its proving equally ready to eat raspberry and \oganberry. Dr. Tillyard, of the Oa-wt-hron Institute, stated 'lie had received a communication from Hr Inims, who has charge of the English 'end or the noxious weeds research,., informing him that testing of the buff arches moth (Habrosyne Herasa) showed that it was unsuitable, as its caterpillar would readily eat raspberry and loganberry, and that tests on plum and 1 apple were inconclusive. Hr. Tillvard added that he obtainea a large supply of the pupae of this moth while in England last year, but a« lie was not satisfied with the records given for its food plants, he left them behind in England with instructions that they must be tested out at Rotbanisted- and not sent to New. Zealand unless they proved astisfactory. He did not expect them to prove suitable, and this has turned out to be the Another moth, “Cidaria Albicillata,” was also obtained in fair numbers, and, left- behind to he tested for ,a similar reason. It was highly probable that a similar unsatisfactory result would be reached in that case also. “The public.” Dr. Tillyard went on to say, “must not te misled by this cable to- think that either of these species was the one on which we were relying to any extent for controlling blackberrv. The position of this research is now ' more satisfactory than before, because we have eliminated one doubtful specie® and can concentrate our energies more fully on the promising species still left over. “It should be remembered that) there are over 10 Oinseets which attack blackberry, but most of these will attack other' rosaceous plants and are therefore not suitable for introduction into New Zealand. The problem is to -select onlv those few species which will te quite safe to work with, and which damage blackberry snfficiently to make them worth while as factors in. the control of the weed.”