THE Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1887. The California Thistle.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 139, 21 November 1887, Page 2

THE Marlborough Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1887. The California Thistle.

Mb T. MCvenue, M.ii.Hh. a.;b d the Colonial Secretary a fow days Hg.. if the Cfovernmcnt purpose taking’ any uit-isurcs for stoppingfiip Hnread of the Californian Thistle. The following is the question asked by MrM'Xcuh •: If the Government propose iutrodueing any measures for stopping the spread of the Californian thistle

(“ Carduus avensis ’’) ? Ho would point out that at present the appearance of this weed in the agricultural districts was very serious. It was unlike other thistles from the fact that it spread from the roots, and in the district he c line from the weed had assumed a serious form. The cost of erad unting the weed was greater than tne value of the land. Farmers, in many cases, after making attempts to get rid of the pest, had abandoned the ground, and had trench'd round, to prevent the weed spreading from the roots to other adjoining land. He hoped the Colonial Secretary would inform the House that it was the intention of the Grovornmont to do something to check the spreading of this wood. Mr Hislop replied that from a papar laid on the table by the Minister of Lands it would he seen that the matter had been the subject of enquiry already. Mr Hislop also stated that if it were seen that legislation would do any good such legislation would bo undertaken this session. The question is one of the most iin- I portant ever asked by a member of Parliament in New Zealand, and the reply given is anything but satisfactory. Mr M'Kenzie evidently has had either in this Colony

or elsewhere some experience m reference to that great curse of all curses to the landholder, the Cali fornian thistle. New Zealand is smarting under the sting of depression. The land owners, who are the bone and sinew of the Colony, have a lot to contend with. The ; rabbits in this district are numerous. The scab has broken out in the province (or rather, we would say, it has never been eradicated), and more on this subject hereafter. > Now the Calfornian Thistle has made its appearance. We have it from reliable authority that at Pictou ! the deadly Californian thistle is s well established. the rabbit pest is a plague, the scab is equally so, r but they both pale into insigniiifc canoe compared to the Californian thistle pest. The two former can f be, and have been eradicated ; not 1 so the thistle. In Tasmania when q the late Hon. James Whyte intro- . duced the Scab Act he was met on - all sides by the most strenuous opposition. A. few years afterwards , he received from almost every shep- ’’ herd in the Colony a handsome testimonial for performing the greatest feat ever achieved for that now far-famed merino producing country. The Californian thistle plague appeared in that Colony almost simultaneously with the eradication of the scab, and the 1 Californian Thistle Act (a most stringent one) was passed and was incorporated with and worken under the Bcab Act, i. 0., the same oihoials arc now employed in en-

check. All they can possibly do is to endeavor to stop it seeding. Where the Californian thistle once makes its appearance it simply holds possession. Mr Mackenzie is quite right in stating that tne cost of eradicating the thistle was greater than the value of the land. As far as we know it is possible to nip the plague in the bud, and we would urge the Government to as speedily as possible pass a Californian thistle Act, and keep as near as possible in check the greatest curse that the Colony lias ever known. A month hence the seed of the thistle at Pieton will germinate, and then, as a matter of fact, they will bo wafted by every breeze through this fertile valley of Blenheim.