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Southland Times, Issue 13090, 12 December 1894, Page 2

The representatives of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce, Messrs Totbill and Nichol,who waited on the Hon. the Minister of Lands on the 4th inst., were not very successful in their mission. They had come impressed with the need for dealing promptly and energetically with the Californian thistle, a plague which threatens to devastate the lands of the district and to spread indefinitely, if not checked at once with a firm hand. The Minister concurred, but his reply was somewhat chilling and unsatisfactory. Nothing could be done, be said, with the weed in question, alone, and it would be necessary to wait till a measure dealing with all noxious growths could be passed, and that, he hoped, would be accomplished next session. He promised, it is true, to draw the attention of the Chief Commissioner to the matter, but any mere perfunctory intervention is not likely to result in much good. It appears that the growth of the Californian thistle on Crown Lands is a main cause of the spread of the plague, and this f act it might be thought should have induced the Minister of Agriculture to order vigorous measures at least for the clearance of all such territory. Let us hope that the instructions to Mr Commissioner Williams have been of such a character as will ensure this result. Mr Tothill has returned to the charge in a letter which we published on the 6th inst., and which is worthy of the most serious consideration of farmers and all who are concerned in their welfare. The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce is a man not given to ex aggeration or to hasty speech, and we cannot therefore disregard the strong terms in which he has spoken of the weed in question. If the Californian thistle is what Mr Tothill represents it to be—“the greatest enemy to farmers that has ever come into New Zealand, a pest beside which rabbits and small birds become insignificant,” then it is clear that there is no duty connected with the land mure pressing than that of checking and ultimately exterminating it. The suggestion of the letter is eminently fitting and practical— *• that the various Farmers’ Clubs meet and consider the matter, and appoint a small committee to urge farmers and County Councils to see that the thistle is cut before the seeds get a chance to ripen, and also to report to the Crown Lands Commissioner if there is any found seeding on Government lands.” Mr Tothill expres-es his confidence that both the Chief Commissioner and the Crown Lands Ranger will cooperate with farmers in the matter, if they show (hemselves in earnest. What' ever may be done in the way of legislation next session, there is a clear present duty to act on the advice given, and stop the seeding of the plant during the present year. “A Farmer, n whose letter appeared in our issue of 10th inst, referring to Mr Tothill’s communication, juafy characterises it as important, and makes the suggestion tha f , not the Californian thistle only, but all weeds should be dealt with in the manner advocated—that is, shou'd be cut down before they seed. The writer expresses further the opinion that this is all that would be necessary to have enjoined by legislation. He makes the shrewd remark that “ In New Zealand, where weeds' grow so luxuriantly,'the Noxious Weeds Bill that I saw would bo quite enough for a market gardener to comply with, let alone a farmer.” It would be easy by too exacting legislation to bring in a greater evil than even noxious weeds, and it is to be hoped that “ A Farmer’u” hint will not bo lost on the Minister of Lands. The bill to which reference has been made might well have had the epithet applie i to it that was used to designate the weeds themselves