TIMBER AND WEEDS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18042, 6 February 1923, Page 4

TIMBER AND WEEDS.

EXPERIMENTS AT WAIMATE. Experiments of great interest to the farming community and general public were completed at the Waimate A. and P. Show Grounds last Wednesday afternoon. Two weeks previously a- portion of the ground which was infested with thistle and-other weeds had been publicly treated w-itli Weedicide, and an inspection was made at tho conclusion of the Studholnie sale to ascertain the results. Air W-hiteoinbe, representing the manufacturers .(Messrs Cooper, Sou and Nephews), and Mr Mcßae, of - Waihao Downs, a prominent user of the. exterminator, pointed out the results of the trial.

A crowbar bad been driven into the subsoil at varying intervals and a small portion of the preparation poured into the holes. Li this manner the liquid affected the weed roots without injury to other plants or sterilising the soil, as is sometimes the case with spraying methods. Although the ground so treated was inclined to he swampy, and the recent wet weather was detrimental to successful treatment, tbe thistles and weeds were all dead, testifying in no uncertain manner to the. efficacy ol the preparation as a weed-killer. Air 'Mcßae informed the “Timani Herald's” Waimate representative that be bad been .using “Weedicide” on briar and other noxious weeds for ninny years, and with excellent results. Experiments had lately been carried out with timber, and it was discovered that, applied to living trees and posts, tho preparation had given wonderful results as a. timber preserver and anti-rot. An adjournment was made to Air E. C. Studholme’s plantation, where an Austrian pine was under treatment-. About two feet of hark hail been chipped off the- trunk and a mixture of Ito 1 of'tar and “Weedicide” .applied. 'The application had worked into the heart of the tree, and was being carried upwards by the sap into the branches. The higher branches were already icspundiiig to the treatment', and in a very short time would die off, leaving the trunk in a hardened condition. .A piece of thirteen-ycar-old pinus iusignis, which had only been treated a, month previously, had hardened to such an extent that it could very ensliv have been mistaken for Australian hardwood. The preparation seems to consolidate the grain. Some of the samples which had been subjected to longer treatment, pi esented a smooth, hard surface somewhat similar to kauri. Willow, an exceptionally soit. wood, responded quickly. A green stake, after only a week's tieatmeut had already hardened at the bottom, and the mixture could i caddy he seen Working towards the top. ' Willow posts so treated had been taken c-nb of the ground seven years atlupwards and loiuid to he in perfect condition. “Weedicide” is an English production. and its success- as a weed-exleruu-lintor is fully established, it is only lately that its value as an anti-rot and. timber preservative was discovered, .m:I in this capaeitv it is still in the experimental stages. 'This important discovery, if proved success!ul, will put an added value to timber formerly useful only for ornamental, or firewood purposes. and should prove a great boon in farmers and all jilantation on nets.