ERADICATION OF RAGWORT.

Waikato Times, Volume 114, Issue 19123, 7 December 1933, Page 9

ERADICATION OF RAGWORT.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —At the last of the Farmers' Union held in Te Kuitl, on November 20, I was surprised to learn that there are still farmers who slate that sheep will eradicate ragwort. They either do not know the meaning of the word "eradicate" or they are wilfully misleading by making false statements, due perhaps to “short-sightedness,” otherwise they would have noticed that within a few days of taking the sheep off a paddock where they have eaten the ragwort down to the orown. the ragwort is all up again and flourishing, stronger than ever. Why? Simply because the roots have not been destroyedWhen they are destroyed, then, and then only, that particular plant may be said to be eradicated; but to eradicate the whole of the ragwort on a farm one has to deal with it as it •appears, and this takes two years, even with scrupulous attention to the directions as to going over each paddock once a fortnight after the main dressing of sodium chlorate and lime in the 1 to 20 proportion. Every -farmer knows that .ragwort does not all make Its appearanoe at the same time. It grows practically. for ten months in tho year, new plants showing up every day; and they cannot be killed .till they do show up, so therefore It will readily be understood that it is Impossible to get rid of what is already showing and the plants yet to come from seed not yet germinated much under. 2i years.. It. can be done, but by no other means yet discovered except by the 1 to 20 sodium chlorate and lime mixture, because in heavily infested ground it is the only method by which large areas can be quickly treated —one man oan easily do eight to ten acres a day—some more. On local ground the mixture can be put through a distributor and very large acreage covered, accomplishing both ragwort eradication and plant and soil enrichment, causing subsequent top-dress-ing with artificial manures to respond to the fullest value and advantage. Lime is the base of all plant ami animal life. A lot of nonsense Is talked about the cost of sodium chlorate as compared with other methods. Speaking of it by the ton, £6O certainly sounds high, but the advocates of other methods—which, by the way, are utterly unsuitable for handling a big area quickly except with a large nuramer of men—omit to mention that sodium chlorate mixture goes 21 times further than anything ever yet discovered. Moreover, it kills, so that, actually speaking, lewt of sodium chlorate, costing (at £6O a ton) £3, Is equal to a ton- of any other killer' at £3O which has to be used in the pure state. Can anyone tell me of a certain killer that can be bought for £3. or even £3O, a ton? T’here are other features to be considered besides the cost of sodium chlorate. For example, the enormous saving in wages. A number of socalled killers when operated by spraying or other mechanical device are capable of doing an acre a day. If the farmer has to employ labour either he or the'Unemployment Board has to pay 10s a day to the operator. For that 10s the operator could cover up to 12 acres using the sodium chlorate and lime mixture, so that if a man had a farm of 120 acres to I*3 treated it would by other methods tDJee with, one man operating, 120 days and cost £6O; by the sodium chlorate and lime, with one man operating, 10 days, and cost £s— in time 110 days and saving In money £55. As It is desirable that all ragwort should be treated before it flowers it Is quite clear that by other methods at least half of the 120 acres would be well in flower if work began on October 1, whilst dv j my method treatment could be profit- j ably deferred till November 1, as there j would be a larger crop above ground j and the whole lot- cleaned up in 10 j days, the farm benefiting from the lime in addition. Thus it will be seen j that for all practical purposes, such ; as cleaning up a farm rapidly, there is only one method suitable, and that the cost is only a fraction of that of any other method. The mixture can be made during the slack times In the winter and stored ready for use. It is perfectly safe if packed in dry hags and kept dry. Where ground is not heavily Infested, but has only scattered plants, a mixture of 5J lb to 61b of sodium chlorate and lcwt- of lime :s sufficient to destroy over 3000 plants. Even with sodium chlorate at £6O, or about 6id per lb, and lime at 13s 6d per ton, or BJd a cwt, the cost of this J .181 bof mixture would be only 3s Hid. Can anyone tell me or a mixture that will definitely kill approximately 3800 plants for 3s llid? I do not expect any answers to the question! I state emphatically that sodium chlorate, even at £6O, Is ten times at least cheaper than any other killer, because lcwt of it when mixed with 1 ton of lime goes as far as 1 ton of any other killer which has to he used in the pure state costing at least £3O, as against £3 13s Od for my mixture, Further, as ragwort has to be dealt with as it appears, the cost of any killer must be recurrent till it is all eradicated, which takes approximately 21 years, but the cost l'or tho last period is comparatively lit Me. For example, from October, 1031. till the beginning of Ibis season 1 had used 57cwt. of sodium chlorate. A quail-, lily of Ibis was used in various experiments in 1031 for a few weeks, involving heavier percentage of the material than the -1.75 mixture now in use—i.c.. i lo 20. This season 1 have used only lcwt, and that will complete the clean up. Everyone else can do it, if they tackle il as I diil. u is a peculiar thing that, if definite Instructions are given to proeuro a definite result there arc always a number willing and anxious lo try something else- I have just had another example of ibis. A farmer who has seen my farm, who has had all my pamphlets and private advice, wrote to me to say lie was going to try I Jib of sodium chlorate to the lcwt of lime Instead of sJlh. I hear from a neighbour that he has used ibis on a 10-acre paddock, and I hat the ragwort is still there. Such people deserve failure, and get it! —I am, etc., W. E. CAYLEY-ALEXAXHER. PIo Pio, November 27, iS>33.