An Injurious Weed — St. John's Wort. 



65 



AN INJURIOUS WEED-ST. JOHN'S WORT. 



By C. French, F.L.S. 

 The Area Invaded. 



In accordance with the wish of the Hon. the Minister, I visited the 

 districts in which the presence of this weed has been reported so as to 

 obtain from personal observations, with the assistance of municipal 

 returns, some idea of the extent of its spread, the probable number of 

 acres affected, and also to suggest some means of keeping it in check. 



The first place visited by me was the Bright district, where the 

 weed has greatly spread since my former visit. From Bright town- 

 ship I went to Harrietville, and up to the Alps (Mt. Hotham), an 

 elevation of over 6,000 feet. I found the weed sparingly along the 

 coach road from Bright to the Hospice, distance about 28 miles. At 

 the rear of the Hospice there is a patch of about an acre in extent, and 

 following down the Grant road patches of the weed were found to 

 extend for some miles, and I learned fi*om Mr. Lawlor, who knows the 

 district well, that it occurs on the Crooked and Dargo rivers some 12 

 or 15 miles from the Hospice. 



From Bright I went to the Kiewa Valley (Tawanga) and in this 

 locality several small patches occur. 



Leaving Bright, the weed may be found in fair quantity along the 

 railway line below Myrtleford, and from there through to Beechworth 

 and Yackandaudah, some large patches having been found growing 

 between Porepunkah and Happy Valley. 



Upon arrival at Beechworth 1 found the weed to be fairly plentiful 

 in several places, viz., at Mr. Bilson's farm and on the Buckland road, 

 also in small patches near the town. 



From Beechworth I went to Wangaratta, but could not find the 

 weed although it is in the Oxley Shire. 



At Rutherglen there are some bad patches the worst being probably 

 that in the Public Reserve. 



It would not be possible unless a lengthy journey be taken to give 

 the exact boundaries of the spread of this weed, its presence in small 

 patches being reported from Omeo. 



From the documents kindly supplied by the Shire Secretaries, the 

 area affected is approximately as under : — 



