10 Oct., 1918.] Hints on Weed Control. 631 



improved, and the extensive system of stock raising give way to more 

 intensive forms. 



Wherever practicable, old grass land should be turned over so as to 

 bury pests, and bring up a practically new supply of mineral nutrients 

 for the grass, and then lambs will frolic again where they had ceased to 

 thrive. The growing and feeding off of green crops, and the use of a 

 basic phosphate, will effect a surprising improvement in the whole- 

 aomeness of the run, and greatly increase the " carrying capacity." 



In a district with a heavy rainfall, where the soil is of a close, 

 impervious nature, drainage must be considered. In cultivated 

 paddocks, where no heed is paid to the natural slopes, and where the 

 lands are flat-ploughed and badly finished, adverse soil conditions are 

 certain to arise. Fairly narrow lands, well crowned, with the finishes 

 cleaned out, to which a basic phosphate has been applied, have given 

 decided satisfaction on some holdings near the foot of the Grampians. 

 When a soil is water-logged, the development of acids and grasses is 

 detrimental to the grass, even after the water has sunk below the level 

 of the roots, while such conditions may favour the growth of toxic 

 plants. 



In any country where the grass is unsatisfactory, I would urge the 

 following treatment : — Harrow it, and top-dress it with 2 cwts. per acre 

 of phosphate. If sour, lime it, or, at least, use a basic phosphate. 

 Drain as far as practicable. Introduce good plants, and regulate the 

 grazing so that they will not be eaten out. 



HINTS ON WEED CONTROL. 



By H. W. Davey, F.E.S. 



Weeds are often referred to as plants out of place. They certainly 

 are plants that intrude themselves where they are least wanted, and their 

 persistence and power to hold their own in competition with other plants 

 is well known to most people. 



In spite of all that has been written and spoken as to the great losses 

 suffered by agriculturists through weeds, little is done to eradicate them. 



Weed seeds are. often introduced as impurities among other seeds, 

 and, through carelessness, these are sown with the good seed, and so a 

 weed is introduced to land previously free from that particular plant. 

 Seeds are also spread in many other ways, the chief agencies probably 

 being travelling stock, birds, irrigation water, trucks in which stock have 

 been carried, stable manure, chaff and hay, and threshing machines, the 

 latter being the most likely to carry weed seeds from one farm to another. 



To enable one to successfully cope with a weed a knowledge of its 

 life period and habits is necessary, inasmuch, for instance, as while an 

 annual plant may be eradicated by not allowing it to seed, a perennial 

 plant cannot be got rid of in this way. 



Cultivation is a great factor in the control of most weeds, and 

 especially so in the case of annuals. 



In fallowing land, we have a means of killing weeds and their seeds, 

 as can be seen by the millions of tiny plants that are destroyed every 

 time the cultivator breaks afresh the crust of the soil. These seedlings 



