DEATH TO WEEDS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 54, Issue 32620, 12 September 1945, Page 5

DEATH TO WEEDS

AMERICAN DISCOVERY WANTED IN DOMINION MR HAMILTON’S ADVOCACY Mr IV. Hamilton, advocate of allolobophara jasseyeusis, the earth worm, and of apiom ulicis, the gorse weevil, had discovered a new one to help the development of the Coromandel Peninsula—this time trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, the weed killer— TCP for short. TCP. among other things, deals with blackberry, according to one R. Milton Carleton in Better Homes and Gardens. “If we had a reliable spray which would kill blackberry we would be very happy farmers,” said Mr Hamilton, in dealing with the virtues of TCP to members of the Thames District Council of Primary Production. He proposed that the Department, of Agriculture be communicated with and asked to obtain the weedkiller, or else manufacture it themselves and let farmers have it, and the council decided to do this. Mr Hamilton spoke of the difficulty of keeping down weeds in his own district and said some good might be done with it. He referred to the success obtained in inquiries about the gorse weevil and casting worms. Big Gardening News The article in which Mr Hamilton read of TCP deals mainly of its importance to gardeners. Scientists of the United States Department of Agricultural Research made the discovery. Toughest of all weeds to control in the United States were the deep-root-ed perennials — bindweed, Canadian Thistle, 'burdock, dandelion. In the past, the only way they could be destroyed was by rooting them out. But, spray them with this new chemical and the kill is sure. And it has made other amazing conquests. Unlike old-time weed killers the chemical is neither inflammable nor poisonous to animals. Unlike them, it does not corrode spray equipment, stain clothing or sterilise the soil. Because of its chemical structure, TCP is taken in by the leaves and carried through the branches down into the farthest root tip. The poison kills the foliage by destroying the chlorophyll. Just what happens inside the stems is not known, but apparently it either breaks down the cell walls or paralyses them so that they cannot function. No Old-Time Drawbacks TCP has none of the drawbacks of old-time chemical weed killers. The latter caused plants to wilt in a dramatic manner. In two or three days the plants seemed . dead. Shallowrooted annuals were. But deep-rooted perennials regenerated from the crown, and unless enough chemical was used to poison the soil that, no plant could grow, most of the perennial weeds flourished all the better for the lack of annual weeds to compete with. With TCP there is no' sudden wilting. For some five days plants look as vigorous as ever. Then along the edge of the leaves a faint yellowish green appears, which fades to yellow, •to ashen grey, finally to brown. Long List of Prey The list of TCP’s prey is long. Besides bindweed there lias been killed poison ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, ragweed, wild plum, wild cherry (including rhe chokecherry, host to the bagworm), blackberry, giant ragweed. plantain, dandelion, burdock, chickweed, Canadian thistle and sumas, poison oak, bull thistle, yarrow, horse beetle, lambs-quarters, sassafras, honey locust, clover and wild 1 garlic. Distribution of TCP under the trade name Weedone was made to a number of experimentally minded gardeners last year. Ar. first 'a few adverse reports came in. but they were found to be from those who expected the familiar wilting of old-time weed killers. When given time to penetrate plant tissues, Weedone lias given practically universal satisfaction in destroying the susceptible weeds which have been listed above.