OX-EYE DAISY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 3, 15 March 1913, Page 265

OX-EYE DAISY.

A. H. Cockayne.

Ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) is widely distributed throughout New Zealand, and is often extremely prevalent in permanent pastures. Under certain conditions it appears, if left unchecked, to be able to obtain'almost complete possession' of the ground, and thus very seriously affect ‘the carrying and money-earning capacity of the land. Like most weeds, however, its seriousness depends very largely on the purpose to which the land is devoted. In certain phases of agriculture it takes its place as one of our most pernicious weeds, while in other cases its presence may have but little economic importance. The relative damage that weeds cause under different conditions is. a most important matter for investigation, as on it depends to a very large extent the necessity, for sustained efforts to avoid their introduction into certain types of land and for carrying out adequate control measures when once they have become established. Thus fat-hen in land that is

used for annually sown spring crops is an exceedingly bad weed, but the use of alsike containing fat-hen-seed in autumn-sown permanentpasture mixtures will have very -little, if any, deleterious effect on the future value of the pasture. One of the most important facts with regard to ex-eye daisy is that it is readily eaten by" sheep and is almost always rejected by . cattle even when feed is extremely scarce, and it is on the single'point whether the land is to be utilized for sheep or cattle that will determine whether or not the sowing of small quantities of ox-eye as an impurity in the seed used will cause any appreciable harm. . . Effect on Land used for Alternate Cropping; On land used for alternate, cropping, and where the pastures are all of a temporary character, ox-eye daisy can never be looked upon .as a serious weed. It is quite a shallow rooter, and the plants themselves are completely killed by ploughing. Of course, where it has been allowed to seed a good many new plants are liable to come, up, but as on this type of country there is not a very long interval before the ground is broken up again the plants do not become sufficiently aggressive to . cause much material harm.. It would, however, be a good practice to graze sheep during the summer on , any grass land containing ox-eye daisy that is to be broken up the following autumn. s In this way the flowering and consequent production of seed will be reduced to a minimum. The same result may be secured by taking a hay crop off the land, followed by stocking with sheep. If the hay is cut very early in. the season the ox-eye .may .frequently flower before the end of the summer, but the sheep will prevent any second flowering occurring. ‘ Effect on Land used for Dairying. On dairying-land ox-eye daisy is a really serious weed, inasmuch as cattle will not touch it, and in eating down the other constituents of the pasture they improve the' conditions for the ox-eye to spread, both by an increase in area occupied by the individual plants and the development of - large quantities' of seed. In time the carrying and money-earning capacity of the land for dairying is seriously interfered with. Under such circumstances, unless the ' ground can be profitably ploughed up and sown with a mixture ■ containing a good proportion of clovers, heavy stocking with sheep will be the only remedy to adopt. In dairying-paddocks that are understocked the ox-eye is not nearly so likely to assume control, as the competition between it and the other constituents is much more evenly balanced than when the grass is eaten bare and the ox-eye left. Whenever ox-eye appears on dairying land sheep should be used to feed it down, and if this is done before the

weed has got too strong a hold any danger of its spreading will be eliminated. A very good example of the value of sheep for controlling the spread of ox-eye has been shown at the Weraroa Experimental Farm, where some time ago this weed threatened to become serious. Judicious grazing with sheep has, however, virtually eliminated this weed from the farm. On dairying-land where ox-eye daisy has been allowed to get the upper hand fairly heavy stocking with sheep will be necessary to control it, and this will lead -to a considerable diminution in the feed available for the cows. In such cases it will be necessary to make extra provision for the production of forage to. supplement the pastures. In this connection lucerne should play a very important part and provide a cheap fodder. By this means the control of the weed can be accomplished without interfering to any serious extent with the dairying side of the farming operations. Effect on Sheep Country. On sheep-country ox-eye daisy is rarely prevalent. Theoretically it should never be a troublesome weed on such land. In the 1895 report of this Department Kirk writes, “ Heavy stocking with sheep will completely eliminate this weed.” This is perfectly true, but it is not always practicable to stock sufficiently heavily. This is especially the case where the areas are large and are not sufficiently subdivided to enable the stocking to be properly controlled. In small sheep-paddocks ox-eye should never become in any way a serious weed. It is ' always desirable to maintain a certain number of sheep on a dairy farm. Their utility is in closely grazing the pastures in order to obtain an even growth, by eating down by the sheep of the patches rejected by the cattle. This implies, however, small paddocks, for the stocking by sheep must be heavy to be effective. The same thing really applies to sheep-country proper, where it is desired to reduce to a minimum those weeds which will be eaten by sheep under compulsion. Agricultural . Seeds likely to contain Ox-eye Daisy. Ox-eye daisy is very frequently introduced into new localities through the medium of impure seed. It is liable to be present in many kinds of agricultural seeds. The following is a list .of those in which it has been found in samples that have been examined : (1) White clover; (2) alsike ; (3) birdsfoot trefoil; (4) Boyd’s clover ; (5) crested dogstail; (6) meadow fescue; (7) timothy; (8) meadow foxtail; (9) yarrow. In only a single sample of meadow foxtail has ox-eye-daisy seed been found, and as this grass is . almost invariably harvested long before the ox-eye seed matures there is only a remote chance of this grass-seed ever containing any seed of the weed. When ox-eye is present in the

clovers it is a very good indication that the seed has been badly cleaned, as this weed-seed is easily dressed out. Seed-merchants having lines of clovers containing ox-eye daisy should always have them recleaned before placing them on the market. The same applies to meadow, fescue. With regard to" crested dogstail, very little ox-eye is ever found in New-Zealand-grown seed, but that of European origin frequently contains quite appreciable quantities. For this reason alone it is far preferable to use local seed, apart from the fact that its germination is often much superior to that imported. In timothy ox-eye is a frequent impurity, and it appears extremely difficult to dress it out satisfactorily. The larger ox-eye seeds are fairly easy to remove, but a percentage of the smaller ones invariably remain in the line even after it has been carefully recleaned. About 15 per cent, of the timothy examined has been found to contain ox-eye, often in quite small amounts,' but at times lines containing 2 or more per cent, by numbers have been received for analysis. Farmers and seed-merchants are urged to take great care when buying timothy-seed to ascertain whether or not it is quite free from this impurity. Yarrow frequently contains large amounts of ox-eye-daisy seed. In one instance no less than 21 per cent, of the sample consisted of this weed. Yarrow is, however, rarely used in New Zealand, and where it is used, except in the ’ case of lawn mixtures,. there is little danger of the weed becoming a nuisance, as the conditions under which it is used are not favourable for the spread of ox-eye. . Ox-eye-daisy seed is very distinct. from any other seed impurity, and when once known can be easily recognized. However, when ox-eye is present in timothy care has to be taken to carefully look through the sample, as in colour the two seeds closely resemble each other, and it is . liable to be overlooked by a mere superficial examination. In localities, where ox-eye is abundant the mere sowing of pure seed will be no guarantee that none of the weed will appear, as it’ can apparently be blown considerable distances. No doubt travelling stock may aid in its distribution.- I know that whenever ox-eye appears on newly grassed land the seed sown is invariably blamed, but a proper examination of the seed before sowing will always show whether or not ox-eye is present. Using Seed containing a Trace of Ox-eye Daisy. ''' It is, of course, always preferable to use seed that is quite free from any ox-eye daisy, but. the question arises whether it is always imperative to reject seed that contains only a trace of this impurity. A case in point has recently come under my notice. The seed contained approximately three seeds of ox-eye per pound, or one seed to every 170,000 seeds of the mixture. This quantity is so small that in. European practice it would be deemed to be ox-eye-daisy It is. naturally

difficult to decide whether such a small trace should be sufficient to condemn the line. I think a good deal would depend on what soil and for what purpose the seed was to be used. If used on land that is to be afterwards cropped there is no reason why such seed should not be sown. Again, if for sheep-country, there does not appear to be any need to reject such a line. If the seed is to be used on dairyingcountry it would probably be quite justifiable to reject such seed, but even in this case, if it is known by the farmer to contain small quan-

tities of ox-eye, measures can be taken to efficiently control the weed before it in any way gets out of hand. It seems advisable to recommend that such seed should only be utilized on poor sheep-country where there is little chance of the weed ever becoming serious even if nothing is done to try and suppress it. However, it has been said that timothy is the most likely to contain ox-eye, and it is dubious whether this grass is a profitable one to, employ on any purely sheep-country, as it is generally rapidly eaten out and killed after the first season.

Agriculture is .an art that renders those who understand it rich, but leaves those who do not understand it, however much they labour, to live in poverty. —

The most recent development in agricultural advancement in the United States is the proposal in the State of Washington to create a “ Bureau of Farm-development,” or the appointment of- a trained agricultural expert in each county of the State. The duty of this expert will be to personally advise farmers and direct-farm experiments. He will be under the control of a Board of County Commissioners. The Chairman of this Board will be the Director of the State Agricultural College, and the members will serve without salary. Other States are moving in a similar direction.