ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 1132, 29 March 1869, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

• .. WE DO NOT IDENTIFY. OtJESELVES IN ANY WAT WITH THE OPINIONS EXPBES3ED BY OtJB COREESPONDENTB. » ' (to the editob op the southland times.) S IR> — For the general information and warning of the farmers and settlers of the Province, will you kindly publish the enclosed paragraph cut from the ' Otago Daily Times' of Feb. 22, relative to the Cape, or as the Nelson people call it, the havvkweed, which 1 am sorry to observe has already effected an introduction here. As it may be a stranger — and a very unwelcome one it will prove to many — I may state that it is one if not the most noxious weed known in the colony, as in course of time it will outgrow and eat out every living plant in its vicinity, and believing as I do that its existence is at present limited to the town of Invercargill and its vicinity, and therefore in so small a compass capable of being eradicated if active and timely measures are adopted, I, trust ',that the few remarks I shall make may have' the effect of rousing our agriculturalists and all those interested directly or indirectly in land to a i sense of their situation, and of exciting them to a vigorous effort to strangle in its infancy what if neglected will yet prove a worse enemy than any they have hitherto encountered. Though there are I believe, several varieties of the weed all are easily recognisable by the dandelion-like appearance ; of the flower which in the districts of Motueka and Eewaka in Nelson gives whole fields of hay, clover, and grain, tbe appearance of a buttercup meadow in England, and neccessitates the cutting of the crop of whatever kind at once to ■ prevent the seeding of the wead. Stock' will not touch it. Clover is literally driven ' out of the field, and its long tenacious 1 taproot exhausts the soil so as to leave what was once a productive field an / abomination of desolation. : •■■••<•• > ; A.B in Oamaru, where its destructive-,,. | ness has just been discovered, and where' the plant has apparently obtained; greater hold than here, its suppression is '■ deemed of such importance — as well it i may being the wheat, as this ought to > and will yet be the barley, garden of New Zealand — it surely ought to be [ ours too, when tke outlay and energy have to be employed within a mere i circumscribed extent to do the same. But the expense and time and trouble ' will have to be borne and given by those ' concerned, as the Government is not at ! present in a position to supplement private enterprise by any action except making the eradication of tbe plant ; compulsory upon the occupiers of landy '■ on which it may be growing, as I trust i has been or will be shortly done. The following is the paragraph above alluded to : — ; "We are glad to see that attention is beginning to be paid to the subject of the spread of the pernicious Cape weed in > some of the country districts. The, 1 ' Oamaru Times ' of Friday says :— lt is difficult to provide for its, eradication, ., I but we would point out to agriculturists the desirability, whenever possible, of < rooting up the plants before they mat ure their seed. It is impossible to get rid ' of it in any other way, as it cannot, like , sorrel, be choked out of 'the grouud by ■ clover, but on the other hand will itself . choke out and usurp the place of every ■ other green thing. The- plant- may" P readily be recognised by " -the flower, t bright yellow, about the size of a shilling, ■ and much resembling that of the daude- . lion, but differing from that well-known 1 and useful vegetable, in that instead of bearing but one blossom on each -flower 1 stem, it has sometimes as many .'as 15 ' upon a stalk, the stalks being 'b'rauc'h'ed'. To give, an idea of the rapidity , with ) which it is calculated to spread, we may » state that the other day wo took up a ' plant just seeding, which had no less ! than seven flower-stalks, each having, on an average, five heads of seeds, onu of [ these — a fair specimen — containing 70 < seeds. This (for one set of blossoms only, and the plant blossoms constantly for months), would give to one plant a reproductive capacity of ;i150," Should any active strps be taken in » this direction, I, for one, , will willingly 1 contribute towards so desirable a ( measure. — I. am, &c, AVai. Steuaet. Blackmount,.. March 23, 1869. . \ ♦ :(T0 THE EDITOB OS THE SOUTHLAND Tlllhi.) . Sin — I think it due to the medical practitioners of Invercai'gill to take exception to the manner in which you have noticed the late surgical operation. It might be supposed that from the

lack of surgical akiU|i]di?Vtal»^^^(Pfek Monckton was "sj^ci&ty engagedglffrm, >} Riv^nlto.r^rfo?m:iii The facty^tpfl^ patoeht carafe under his^care at jHwerton g|p| • and he -wisely ir%r£htsfr over fce|jitkaj^ ! he mighti^taiuji^istitfce. ; *Jsot YouKi^ice |sear«eTpgive%n^^ for -tfi^lnare. xj^a^ik the operltMMci.' " Assisted " is no&quite the word, when I certainly had as much to do in it as Mr Monckton, and had previously' 'put Binl in possession of the latest information on the subject, and- of surgical appliances we could not have" done withoutT"'"* ' o> '" These cases are rare, and"' r of great interest to medical men, and I think it would be better in such cases tooinvite more co-operation. Had there been any complications we should have beeri-sadiy . at fault for want of more skilled Assistance. •■■ ' - ? ~- ; ' The case fortunately proved simple, aud is another example ,of the benefits of modern surgery. J- v I think, however,' it would have saved the friends of the patient much expense, if she had been attended to in the Hospital. It is just for such peases the Hospital is meant, and cases requiring quite as much skill and, f- attention have been treated under, the present regime. — I am, your's, &c., John Feild Deck, M.D., Late House Surgeon, St. Thomas • Hospital, Eondon.. ?<Av!'YP March 26, 1869. ' ■ :y:k^.^m^