CONTROL OF RAGWORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22353, 26 February 1936, Page 19

CONTROL OF RAGWORT

LOCAL BODIES' CONFERENCE NEW LEGISLATION SOUGHT [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] HAMILTON, Tuesday Representatives of the Matamata, Waitomo, Waipa, Otorohanga and Waikato County Councils met in Hamilton yesterday to consider measures to combat tho rapidly increasing menace of ragwort. Mr. J. W. Anderson, of Matamata, presided, the conference being held in committee. Several amendments to the Noxious Weeds Act were recommended. It was decided to ask the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, to approve of prosecutions recommended by county councils. It was also suggested that it should be an offence to burn off areas and not cultivate them, and that burning off of Crown and native lands by irresponsible people should bo declared a punishable offence. A subsidy on rates was opposed, the conference considering that if the Government kept Crown and native lands free of ragwort it would bo as much as could reasonably be expected. It was decided to ask the Government to remove tho duty on sodium chlorate, and to give financial assistance to the Cawthro n Institute to enable it to provide ragwort parasites. Messrs. Anderson, S. C. Macky, V. W. Simms and I. C. Mason were appointed by the conference to place the viows of the meeting before the Minister of Agriculture. PURCHASE OP SEED-FLY NECESSITY FOR MORE FUNDS [BY TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] TE KUITI, Tuesday The Te Kuiti Chamber of Commerce last evening decided to write to the Minister of Agriculture urging that supplies of ragwort seed-fly should not bo held up for the lack of reasonable capital. Recently in response to a request that the fly should be liberated in this district the chamber received a reply from the Cawthron Institute intimating that a very limited supply of the ragwort seed-fly was held, which would compel it to restrict its activities to one or two specially-selected districts for the purpose of establishing the insect. Owing to the requests made for tho insect from all parts of ragwort-infested country the institute was unable to cope further with the* situation. It was pointed out, however, that the position could be met in a more satisfactory manner if sufficiently 'large supplies were procurable from England, but as things stood tho institute was limited by the funds it had available for procuring them. Although it had financial aid for the Meat and Dairy Boards and the Farmers' Union that aid was for maintaining the work in New Zealand and did not allow for the expenses of securing insects from England.