BLACK-BERRIES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 249, 27 February 1911, Page 3

BLACK-BERRIES

XOT ALWAYS REGARDED AS A PEST As a result of last month's phenomenal rainfall (says a New Smith Wales paper), ihe blackberry season this year in the Ilhiwarra district will be a record one. Picking is just now in full swing at Otford, Lilyvale, Austinmor and Bnlli, and it is expected that the total yield will be about HOI) lons, valued at over £4OOO. A little difficulty has been experienced by the jam companies' agents in securing a sufficient number of pickers, otherwise the yield would be heavier The rate oU'erod —£lo a ton is a slight increase on last year's. Still, it is insufficient for a single hand lo depend upon for a living, and for this reason the hulk of the picking is confined to families. It can easily be understood that a family of live or six (boys and girls), picking 301b or 401b of berries each per day, can considerably augment the father's earnings at the mine. In the cool of the evening, if he is on the front shift, the latter usually takes a .stroll among the vines, and gives the children a hand to fill their fin.s. In the. northern section of tV district between Wollougong and Otfonl the vines are increasing rapidly every year. So abundant are they in the vicinity of Otford and Lilyvale that the mountain slopes present ihe appearance of a wild sea of dark green. The work of eradication in this locality would be an almost superhuman task. Very few people, however, in the mining communities regard the blackberry as a pest, conseo,uently no steps are taken to check its growth, save in isolated cases where it threatens to encroach upon the orchard or the garden. South from Wollougong, however, right through to the Victorian border, every pro-.unlion is taken by" the dairy farmer lo prevent its spread. Riirning oIT is practically useless; the vines must be dug out by the roofs and burnt. In the deep valleys and rugged steeps on the mountain side these vines cause little inconvenience, but when they begin to crowd over cleared areas they become a decided post. At. present there are hundreds of acres of fertile land in northern Illawarra overrun with tho vines, and if the matter is not taken in hand by the local government bodies ere long the blackberry in Hlaw&rru, promises lo give as much trouble a,s the prickly pear in the north-west.