THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



In 1913, before the Linnean Society of London, Miss Hayward exhibited 

 a series of forty-six Australian plants found on the banks of the river 

 Tweed (between England and Scotland) and its tributary the Gala, together 

 with a large collection of Australian seeds, the whole obtained from Aus- 

 tralian wool, there being wool- washing establishments in the vicinity. 



How many skirts have been ruined and trousers injured beyond remedy 

 through walking in paddocks at grass-seed time. I have seen the upper 

 leathers of strong boots matted so densely with grass-seeds that it would be 

 impossible to pack any more thereon. 



3. Weeds and manure. 



This is, of course, one of the principal drawbacks of the manure formed 

 by the droppings of herbivorous animals. Unless such manure is very 

 carefully rotted, it always contains seeds of weeds, which flourish exceedingly. 



Some weeds have small seeds with impervious coverings which resist the 

 process of digestion and even fermentation of manure. 



It is a matter of common knowledge that weeds arise near stables, where 

 animals camp for the night, arid so on. The trucking yards of railways are 

 a fertile source of propagation of weeds. Take any country town, and you 

 will make a fine collection of weeds where sheep and cattle are trucked. 

 Within a square mile of Flemington saleyards I have collected more than a 

 dozen western species of plants. It is at the yards that the concentration 

 takes place, but the diffusion of weeds occurs more or less wherever stock 

 trucks pass along the country. 



I have been informed that, some years ago, when the Hawkesbury Agri- 

 cultural College purchased the cleanings of the Flemington sheep and cattle 

 trucks for use in the orchard there, several western weeds, quite unfamiliar 

 to the district, were found growing where the manure had been spread. 



Weed-seeds are often directly put on the land in the form of manure. 

 They may be thrown on the manure heap under the impression that they 

 will be destroyed by the fermentation of the manure, but it must be remem- 

 bered that the coats of particular seeds may be very resistant to decomposi- 

 tion, while other seeds may find their way to the edges of the heap and not 

 be acted upon at all. 



SECTION 4. PREVENTION AND CURE. 



(a) Seed should be screened. 



(5) Weed-seeds should be excluded in packing of goods. 



(c) Weeds should be prevented from seeding. 



(d) Burying of weed-seeds is dangerous. 

 (e} Worry weeds by frequent cutting. 

 (/) Eradication. 



(g) Drainage. 



(/i) Rotation of crops. 



(i) Smothering crops. 



(/j) Chemical manures. 



(I) Chemical weed exterminators. 



(m) Special treatment. 



(ft) Some weeds disappear naturally. 



