SEEDS AND WEEDS

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 7

SEEDS AND WEEDS

FHE LOCAL POSITION OF IMPORTED GRASSES. It is an interesting organic and >otanical fact that :n: n a new and ,'irg:n soil plants and animals which a their native setting are k&pt in heck by the operation of natural forces >ften find theur deve'opmpnt and propaga:on unhindered by those former restraints md consequently grow and flourish .nost imazingly. That has been the case with he rabbit when transferred to the new ■oirditions of Australia and New Zealand ; hat was al«o the case with the vine when raneferred f rom America to Europe. In America the germs of phylloxera were >re>ent "nut were rrot liarnu-jl because Mature had provided a counteracting■ondition. In Europe this restraining in- i luerrce was absent, and the result was that ' he evil germs grow into a militant disease. , iere in New Zealand Phe same law has requently been observed to operate in conlection with such weeds as the Scotch rustle, Oalifornian thistle, gorse, broom, , ilc, as well as numerous sma-ller but qually pernicious hindrances, so that when he assertion is made — as has been done by ! Wanganui merchant — that New Zealand s being ma-dc the dumping-ground for all •arts of the Empire in regard to seeds vhich have been refused elsewhere, the , tafcsroent is oire which is not calculated o please those farmers who. are continually uaking strenuous efforts to clear their land if -iiriported pests. Wit-h a desire to discover how far thia tatement might be true* as applied to >tago, a Daily Tinr.-w renter waited upon

some of the leading seed merchants on thai 12th to ascertain . the source .of theii supplies, the measures taken to secure clean seed, and the probability \of ■ new evils being unintentionally introduced. - - The first merchant to whom our reporter addressed these, queries stated thatf the grass seeds imported- here came chiefly, from England, America, and Germany. PracticaHy none, 6o- -far as be was aware, tame from Australia, therefore he was afc a loss, to understand how it co.uld be sai<*daugerous grasses were being imported from there. Ac the. very most only a few odd lines came over, when there was from any cause a special demand. All the seeds that were imported were cleaned By machinery before being shipped, 'and every care was taken to secure perfectly sound seed. This was absolutely necessary now in- the merchants' own interests, for every year the farmers were becoming more and more particular in regard to the quality, of the seeds submitted to them, and merchants were not likely to bring in seed for which there would be no sale. In the North Island, however, where the statements in regard to the quality of the soei had been made, different conditions prevailed. Th€y Had ' a number of grasses which we never saw. These were, as a rule, thin and wiry grasses with . seed* difficult of cleaning' a-nd grew on pumice and dry lands — quite aiffererrt front the succulent grasses of the south. In their cas» cleaning might be * hard job. So far as the south was concerned it was very libti!& use submitting to the farmers* samples that were nofc > thoroughly machine-cWned. So: they realised that they must protect themselves from the possibility of imported pests.. Mr Xirumo, of the well-known firm of Messrs Niramo and Blair, when asked for his opinion. 6aid that it was absolutely incorrect to say tha-t New Zealand was th» dumping-ground for inferior grass seed *» far as the recognised seed trade was concerned. As a matter of fact, it was very well known that New Zealand herself gr«w the vast bulk of the grass seed sown in the Dominion, and it • was only the finer grasses that were imported to any extent. These came from England, Germany, and America, and besides being always machineoleaned before despatch, were very often run through by the machine again on the>r arrival. So far as speargrass from Australia was concerned, this was not imported into Otago at all, and to the best of hi« belief not into the North Island ( although they used a number of grasses up therv which were n«ver seen down here. From the opinion of these representative seedmen. therefore, it can be fairly, gathered ttat there is not at the presenb time any special cause in operation* to give apprehension to the farmer that h« ■ is obtaining in addition to. his grass seed & fine assortment of special weeds which would particularly like to flourish on hi* clean acres. Indeed, the very opposita seems to be the oase— there never was • time. when* greater care was being taken to see that the imported seeds were carefully cleaned and free from noxious weeds. It is only by a strict continuance of this self-protective policy on thV^part of the farmers that the virgin and fresh soil of New Zealand can be prevented from becoming a veritable conservatory for weeds