A Valuable Discovery

Southland Times, Issue 9919, 20 July 1888, Page 4

A Valuable Discovery

♦ : • 'Brani,' wrltei in the Australasian, 31st March— Mr R. J. Murchison has for years past been engaged in the preparation of a poison that will destroy all scrub, weeds, or noxious plants, such as the briar, Oalifornian thistle, Cape weed, and Bathurst burr. After * great many experiments and much thought and c&re, he has at last made a combination that ba« fully answered hit expectations. The poiion hi.s effectually destroyed every plant upon which it has been tried, and the price is so moderate that it will eventually become a great aisistance to the pioneer in scrubby country, It appears that though the poison destroys all vegetable life upon whicn it is sprinkled the active principle is so volatile tfaat it is soon dispersed and the soil is then fit for cultivation or producing pasture. As a proof of this Mr Murchison showed me a spot in his garden whicls was once overrun with Cape weed, Tne poison which is named 'The Scrub Exterminator,' was freely applied to the weeds, with the result; that all were killed. A crop of French beans was then grown on the ground, which gave a heavy yield. At first there was a strong objection to use the beans in the house, out when it wai seen that the fowls partook of them freely without any bad results; they were eaten by Mr Murchison'a family and found to be excellent, In a ,paddock a short distance from the house I saw the effect of the scrub exterminator when applied to various plants. There were gam saplings nearly a foot in diameter that bud been dressed with the exterminator, and the result showed that the name was not misapplied, for the young trees were quite dead, The action of the exterminator i« tho- . rough, for every plant I taw to which it bad beenapplied was killed to the.jattermqst fibre of itarrpotei ITerns-;are very .easily destroyed md in 'some" instance's I noticed that under the fernt tne grass was still 'growing. Where a bank of fern had been killed for some mouths the young grasi was spriugiug underneath, showing that the exterminator doea not destroy the fertility of the soil, but merely kills all growing vegetation. Mr Murchison explained, to me tnat the exterminator was sprinkled over fse leaves and stem of the plant by means of an ordinary water pot. It was not necessary to let any of it fall on the ground to kill a plant. From waat 1 saw on Mr Muichison's property, I fancy the grass would spring naturally ab^ut three-months after the poison was applied to the soil.| and mach sooner if the land it) cultivated. The most interesting to me 'of the experiments made by Mr Murchison waß the destruction of a large briar bush near the house, the only one in the neighbourhood. This was dressed with the exterminator a few months ago, and was, at the time of my visit, completely destroyed. , Toe roots were so rotten that it w&s broken off short by a kick.' Those who bave had to deal with this pernicious plant know from sad experience how difficult it is to eradicate, how the smallest rootlet left in the ground will spring into vigoroub life, By merely sprinkling the exterminator over the leaves of a growing plant it will be killed as effectually as if it were struck by lightning. Jf the exterminator were useful for this purpose alone I consider it would be a great boon to Australia. Oa my expressing a wish to see the exterminator applied to some plants, Mr Murchison kindly brought over to Llanberris a cjuple of bottles ready mixed. This small quantity was applied to the stamp of a vigorous yonng gum tree which was cut down for the purpose. The tree was over a foot in diameter, and was crowned with a fine dark foliage, showing that it was in perfect health. The result of this experiment cannot be known for some time. About a quarter of a bottle, was used on this tree. The remainder of-the liquid was sprit kled over a young gum bush about four feet high, a young wattle of the same size, a thistle, a furze busb, and a buncb of fern. Mr Murchison said that tbongh the exterminator, would kill any plant by sprinkling it over the leaves it wns better to put some at the roots of plants of stroDg vitality such as briar, furze, and strong gum scrub.' The scrub exterminator ii prepared in the shape of a powder, lOOlbs of which dissolved in 3CO gallons of water forms a liquid strong enough to destroy ;grub, Californiao thistle, prickly pear, briar, fuize, and ferns. To destroy Caps weed, sorrel, burr, and small weeds twice ths quantity of water may be used, For 2d per gallon a liquid may be prepared that will effectually destroy any vegetable pe*t It is not dangerous to handle, but it is recommended that after working in it the bands should be carefully washed, a precaution anyone would naturally take, without any directions. The ' scrub exterminator ' has been patented in all the Australian colonies, and when it-> Vcerits become generally known it will come into deserved repute with all who have to deal with noxious Wtedp, It hag been proved extremely useful in k epng garden paths and carriage drives free fro n wreds, one wa'eriag with tbe weak solutiou sufficing to effect a clearance of all we? d. Sicce my visit toLlanbrrris, I have heard from Mr Dobbin of the re.iultu of tbe experitnems made with the exterminator in my presence. The gorse aud gum bush were completely withered in a week. The thistles died in about 48 hours. The fern was quite dead when pulled up a week after being dreised. At that time the wattle still showed a little life at the tips of the branches.