BLACKBERRY CONTROL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 2 March 1939, Page 3

BLACKBERRY CONTROL

INSUFFICIENT ATTENTION PAID! BY FARMERS VARIETY OF METHODS The fact that insufficient attention to the blackberry menace was bein.l paid by the farmers of Ilawkcs Bay was referred to during an interview to the “Telegraph” by j Mr Graham. Stock Inspector for Hawkes Bay. His remarks will be read with interest by the Nelson ; district also. Mr Graham pointed i out that the present season was ideal for attackine the blackberry, and this work should be put in hand wherever the pest was in evidence. ! Blackberry is generally attacked j with the slasher or mowing-machine j j Continual cutting will destroy black- !

, berry, but generally it lakes a long ! time, and is then only accomplished | with the aid of a good sole of grass, i ('rubbing does more harm to blacki berry than cutting, but it is not so efj fectivc on this plant as on gorse. Never- : lhe less, it probably should be more regularly employed. Heavy harrowing j damages blackberry. for it lacerates the stems and is an easy and quick method of attacking blackberry a foot oi so high in a pasture. TOPDRESSING j Whatever method o£ attack is used, success will not be secured unless the grass pasture is encouraged by topdressing. Because of its vigorous growth, one of the best grasses to tight against gorse or blackberry is paspalU m, which can be established by feeding paspalum hay on the area. or. better still, by seeding it and Lotus major among the burnt-out areas of blackberry in late November. Seeding is essential where blackberry has grown so

fluck that all pasture plants have been t smothered. Wherever the pasture is very poor. ; >.• where it docs not exist, it pays, if possible, to plough blackberry-infest-cd areas. Two or three ploughings f with or without crops between will. r with the cultivation eradicate almost 1 fd' the the blackberry. Cultivations s should aim to bring the old blackberry f 1 roots to the surface, where they can be • dried and burnt or carted away. When j j ; the ground is clean, permanent pasture [ ( can be sown. Sheep are fond of blackberry, and) | ! readily eat the young leaves. Black-j : berry growth is slow from May until j l September, but it grows rapidly in the j I Spring. Sheep can keep blackberry ] in control in the Winter, but in the ' Spring, when other fodder is plentiful, they do not effect much control, and j is at this time that the farmer desires ‘ control. CONTROL BY GOATS I Goats effect exceptionally good con- i j pol of blackberry, and in Winter will I rot allow a leaf to develop. In the! Spring the blackberry does develop a 1

few leaves, but its vitality is low. and | !• ir, the end goats, plus the top-dresser. E will eliminate it. About two goats per l. acre are required on thickly-infested blackberry country. They eat very J. little grass while blackberry leaves are available. The trouble with goats is their ten- ' dency to wander and help the neigh- _ brur out also. While this is often quite desirable, it does not encourage the j purchase of goats for blackberry-con-itrol. Blackberry constitutes little diffi- ! culty on ploughable areas; it is on inac- j cessible and unploughable country that j I blackberry is a menace. There the goat | reigns supreme, and is the best method * ' of eradication. f USE OF SODIUM CHLORATE ♦ j The use of sodium chlorate deserves I »i i some mention. One spraying of a 5-per- . cent, solution of sodium chlorate in , * May will result in the plant lying clor- '■ irsant for five or six months. Spraying

£S thick blackberry every Autumn with a ) b. 7-per-cent, solution for three years has i resulted in most of the blackberry be- j b. ing killed, and has enabled a fair sole j of grass to establish, whcih. top-dressed { and with a few more sprayings, should I result in clean pasture. Spraying apIb • j pears to be more effective in control 1- I ' ing blackberry than does the (lame* ! terower. The reverse can be said for gorse. 1 i In alluvial swamps blackberry grows to perfection, making masses of 1 j growth up to 7ft or Bft high. Where the swamp is very wet. Glyceria aquatica 1 (Poa aquatica) established among it j ! will soon destroy the pest, j Glyceria aquatica is a grass with unocrgrouncl running stems or rhizomes. jA plant established among the black- : ! berry sends out rhizomes in all direc- ! tions, from which arise a forest of upI right stems, bearing seed-heads. A cirI cular patch of Glyceria aquatica soon ] develops, in which the blackberry is; ! completely destroyed. Along the margin | iof the Glyceria aquatica and black- j ! berry the fight goes on. The Glyceria | | aquatica grows up and. leaning against j the blackberry with its dense foliage.] gradually smothers it. In this way.' much in the manner a man advances over blackberry using a plank. this grass will overcome blackberry twice the height of its leaves.