BLACKBERRY AND GOATS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 2 March 1929, Page 14

BLACKBERRY AND GOATS.

HAWKE’S BAY EXPERIMENT. In the course of an article on “Blackberry control by goats” in the January ‘•journal of Agriculture,” the writer, a big station holder in Hawke’s Bay, says that until the war the station was practically clean of blackberry. But from 1914 to 1919 the growth was tremendous, and there were bushes on thei homestead lawns, sft high thickets on the swamp lands, and thriving plants everywhere. “Digging, poisoning, ploughing, chipping, superphospliating and salting” were the methods adopted. But despite everything the pest was increasing until seven years ago, when Angora goats were purchased. Gradually the hock was built up to 600 mature goats. The annual cutting ceased, and the pest is now practically eliminated, and the owner considers* “the stocking with goats, 60 per 1000 sheep, has been an unqualified success.” He,says that though they do eat a certain amount of grass, “the area of land kept open by them and now almost grazed by sheep more than makes up for the pasturage devoured.”