BOXTHORN HEDGES.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 273, 2 November 1932, Page 10

BOXTHORN HEDGES.

(To • the Editor.) Sir, —Some considerable time ago the Government declared that boxthorn hedges came under the category of noxious weeks, and that.it was illegal to have them growing on your property. To show how the Act is flouted in quite a number of eases I need only mention a few instances where the growth of boxthorn hedges is an absolute danger to the public, and especially the school children, who in numerous instances prefer to go barefooted during the hot weather. In Heretaunga street west there is a boxthorn hedge running parallel with the side walk. It certainly gets trimmed at times, but the thorns that are cut fall on the path and when dry the wind sweeps them in all directions. These thorns are highly poisonous and the owner of the hedge is responsible for anyone who gets injured from the thorns. These Hedges should be dug out root and stump and burnt. The next instance of an extremely dangerous hedge also rune parallel with the footpath a few chains from the saloyards. It is more than one hundred feet long and over ten feet high. It is easily the most dangerous boxthorn hedge in the Heretaunga riding. Cattle have been severely torn by this terrible mass of Ihorn. It is a positive menace to the large number of pedestrians who make use of the footpath to the cemetery, saleyards, etc., not to mention the many children going to Hastings West School. The last instance of dangerous hedges (boxthorn) is on the right hand side of Pakowhai road in the Hastings borough area. These are also a danger jo the children and general public, and should be removed root and stump. Hacking or trimming boxthorn hedges only increases the danger by scattering the poisonous dry thorns. It is obvious that the borough and county overseers have not carried ont their duty in the

eradication of the boxthorn when such glaring examples are so conspicuous in public places. Labour is cheap and plentiful. There is n 0 reasonable excuse why the Noxious Weeds Acts should not be carried out in their entirety. It is now up to the Borough and County Councils to see the above dangerous hedges are removed. —I am, etc., SAFETY FIRST. [The African boxthorn is only a noxious week in the Hawke’s BayCounty. The cases mentioned by our correspondent are within the borough where the boxthorn has not been declared a noxious weed. —Ed. H.B.T.]