NOXIOUS WEEDS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 4 July 1911, Page 2

NOXIOUS WEEDS.

VIEWS OF AN OLD SETTLER. The appended l letter from Mr Joshua Rutland. a.n old: settler, appeared in the "Marlborough Express" of a recent date:— recenfc prosecutions under tlie Noxious Weeds Act have brought us face to face with the question: tiro people to be armoyed and put to the expense by the enforcement of a useless law, or worse than useless law Take the ease of the bramble or blackberry in the Marlborough bush country north of the Wairau River. Compelling- settlers to clear this plant off their holdings, while thousands of acre® of Crown lands and hundreds of miles of public roads round about them are ovenrun with it, is so manifestly absurd and unjust, it requires no comment,. Yet this is what our Stock Inspector is attempting' in conformity with the Noxious Weeds Act, which is his duty to enforce. The bramble, spreading by runners and seeds, is thoroughly adapted to the rough, partlycleared land and' damp climate of the bush country. Long before the Noxious Weeds lAct came into force it had got such a hold that its eradication was tinpossible. It is a weed in the full sense of the word, a plant that cannot only do without our assistance, but will snrvive. do what w© can to destroy it. What is true of the bramble is true of other noxious weeds; they are all foreign nlarits that attracted no attention until, getting into places where the climatic and other conditions were favourable, they ran wild. Their being declared noxious weeds proves that they have got beyond the possibility of extermination, for if ever there was an example of "shutting the stable door after the horse is gone.' we have it in. the provisions of our Noxious Weeds Act. The success of the Scab Act has given many an exaggerated idea of what can. be effected- hy

legislation. It. may therefore he advisable to examine it and'other Acts o- the same kind. The scab, of which ve can now speak in the past tense, was a contagious disease that spread rapidly through a flock of sheep, and rapidly from flock to flock throughout a- district however they were shepherded or fenced apart. In -addition to this, it was carried' by drovers and others all over <he country. A remed for the disease being discovered, and the major it yof sheep-owners being willing to apply '.t. it was reasonable to compel theor careless to do the same. as. it was only by action that the disease could be got under. From the 'beneficial effects of the enforced dipping, it could be seen that, b\- a very strict enforcement of -the Act, and destroying some wild sheep that might keep the disease going, it would soon be possible to stamp it out of the country altogether. This we know was accomplished. _ln the Orchards Act we have on trial- a measure very similar to the Scab Act. That the codlin moth and other fruit pests.- spread from orchard to orchard is well-known. In fairness to those who live by fruitgrowing. and a,re trying to keep the various fruit pests under, all owners' of fruit- trees should be to do the same. While the scab was bad in the country, a fanner who was; unable to comply with the law could escape it by getting rid of hi® sheep. In the same way an. owner of fruit- trees who cannot attend to them can chop them down. Weeds well established', and' the diseases of domestic, anirnals and cultivated plants are verv different things to cope with. While the Crown land remains as it is. tlie Noxious Weeds Act. however strict I x enforced, can only -slightly diminish the evil it was expected l to remove: it may reduce the seeding weeds, but it cannot destroy them. From this useless law there is no door of escape Returning to the bush country, it it can be proved that a settler, Lv' ing the bramble on. his .land is injuring his neighbours, it might, be reasonable to punish him; but this' cannot be proved. Who it, in 1865, the bramble began to take possession of the Pelorus Valley, isolated' plants made their appearance is. places miles, apart- The onlv continuous, spreading was along the roads from Hav-elock over the Maungata-pu to Nelson, and' from Canvas town to Deep Greek. This is easily explained. The 'blackberry is a palatable plant, containing a number of small, indigestible are voided' uninjured by animals-, human beings included. At the time in question numbers of men were making their way on foot from Nelson to the Wakamarina gold field. The Maitai Valley, through which the .road (runs, was then overrun with fruit-bearing brambles. To a swagger trudginsr along in the hot sun a. "bonnie bunch of blackberries" was very acceptable. Thus- the gold-seeker' became the brambles distributor. sowing the seed 1 like a- patent drill. If the blackberry is not eaten by some kind of animal it falls to the ground among the runners on which it grew, and produce® few, or no young plants. For many, years, patches of bramble were to be seen along the road side, while t-h-o a<l'j la/n<3! was fr€ , e from it: yet the law hold® settlers responsible, and calls, on them; to keep the roads fronting their holdings clear of brambles, assuming that it i® off their land that the weed, has made its way on to the highway. A settler has no more right to foe -punished l for having the bramble on his land' than for having fern, manuka, rushes, or any other weed. Condemning the Noxious Weeds Act will to .alee many aslc what is. to become of the country if the weed's against which it is directed are allowed: to spread 'unchecked 1 ? To answer this question ■we must -go back upon the history of the foreign plants that have established themselves on the land. There are still a few who can recollect the thistle scare of fifty years ago. For a time this noxious weed, how it spread and- how it multiplied', was the only absorbing topic of - conversation. ' on< river-beds, on mountain-tops, and on the decks of vessels off the- coast-,' the winged seeds were seen falling. In places thistles so completely covered the ground, and' .qirew so tall and" strong, that roads had to be cut through them to 'get about. _ln the Nelson district, where it was. said the first thistles "wore grown by an enthusiastic Scotchman, who brought seed from his native land, the-y became so unbearable. that the Provincial Council passed an Act compelling settlers to cut them on their holdings. In compliance with this law thousand® of pounds were expended. One of the provisions of the Thistle Act was that i* » settler, after receiving notice, did* nob do -the woik inquired., the Government could' have it done at hia expense. While the thistje plague was at its worst, Mr .Martin, who had a sawmill on the Waimea River, was ordered, to clea rthe thistles' off the old junker roads, and from amongst the "fallen, tree-tops on his property. On his not complying with, the order men were sent, the thistles were cut, and' about seventy pounds were paid in wages. Mr Martin, on refusing to pay, was brought to Court, where he pleaded that the Act stated that thistles should be destroyed at his expense; He brought witnesses to prove that they were not destroyed. Where the seventy pounds had been expended thyi were thicker than before. The case was dismissed, and our iNoxious Weed Act became a dead letter. Thr: Martini CcU&e drew attention to the ( fact that cutting the thistles made them grow thicker and stronger. " About' the 1 same time it was noticed that in- places where they were -not interfered with they showed signs of •" decay. By degrees ifc was discovered that the way to get rid'- of the thistle was to let it alone. The thistle died off as rapidly as it spread, but- it did mot disappear altogether, it is still to- the fore in our fields and gardens, in 'solitary plants and smail-1 patches. It has become an ordinary weed 1 , like the Cape gooseberry and other species added' to the New Zealand flora by the agency of man. The increase and decrease of tile thistle came under the notice of all who were in the country at the time referred to There were other plants of restricted range that did precisely the same. About thirty years ago a small flowered buttercup, ramuicul'us parvi flora, made its appearance amongst the grass' on the alluvial land of the lower Pelorus Valley. Precisely the same thing happened on small areas. 'One of the briar patches was separated only by a wire fence from a paddock where the weed was regularly cut down, and where it still survives. In the Maitai and in the Pelorus the briars were very crowded wheji decay set it. If we turn to the Mother Country, whence most of our noxious weeds were derived 1 , we find that the bramble, wild roses, and' foxglove, though. 1 verj? widely distr.ibuted, a,re only ' solitary plants, or occur in very small patches. Considerable areas l are; covered with gorse, as it is used l for lime-burning and* other purposes, and is cultivated for cattle food. It can scarcely be regarded a,s a- weed. From what has already taken'place, .it seems reasonable to conclude that our noxious weed's will wme down to what they are in their original home. From the many examples that can be brought together, I think we -may conclude that the abnormal increase, and subsequent decrease, of- a specie® after getting into a new and favourable _ IoV cali-ty is a law of the vegetable lcintrdom, and probably of the animal kingdom also.