14 THE WEEDS OF SEW SOUTH WALES. 



(a) Seed should be screened. 



Cheap seed is often dirty seed.. There is no economy in buying seed which 

 -can be sold cheap simply because it has been hurriedly collected or taken 

 from paddocks infested with weeds. Such seed will be very dear in the long 

 run. In this matter let us begin at the beginning by the inculcation of pre- 

 Tentive methods. Prevention is better than all the remedies in the world. 



All seed, without exception, should be screened. It is wonderful what a 

 lot of rubbish may be obtained from a sample which, on a casual examina- 

 tion, may appear to be clean. It is only when the screenings are examined 

 that the truth comes home to us. An analogous case is that of milk. Until 

 separators were invented it never occurred to anybody that milk might 

 contain so much foreign matter. 



The time will assuredly come when all seeds will by law have to be 

 .screened, and the screenings consumed by fire. 



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



Imported goods often come in packing which contains weed-seed?. 

 Articles packed in one part of Australia may communicate weeds to another 

 part. One correspondent of mine specially stated that a certain weed was 

 introduced into his part of the State in the packing of fruit-trees by nursery- 

 men. 



(c) Weeds should be prevented from seeding. 



There is an old jingle which does not err on the side of exaggeration. 

 " One year's seeding, seven years weeding." Cut the weed or pull it up 

 ivhen in flower or early fruit (seed) ; that is to say, do not run the risk of 

 the seed ripening or of the fruit case opening and throwing its contents 

 on the ground. 



(d) Burying of weed-seeds is dangerous. 



Sometimes it is recommended to bury weed-seeds, or weeds containing 

 ripe seeds, deeply by the plough, or in pits. This is fatal to many, although 

 much depends on the care with which the operation is performed. There is 

 always risk in weeds not being deposited actually at the bottom of the pit, 

 "but the chief risk lies in the fact that some weeds have surprising vitality, 

 and will get to the surface either through a fissure in the soil or because the 

 soil becomes disturbed. Incidentally it may be mentioned that it is 

 notoriously dangerous to try and get rid of nut grass (Cypcrus rotundus) by 

 burying. n -M 



, ; 



(e) Worry weeds by frequent cutting. 



Certain weeds should be cut down persistently, remembering that this 

 causes atrophy of the root, and consequently the plant dies out. If neces- 

 sary cut a weed a few inches below the surface, as cutting at the surface by 

 a scythe or other implement causes many weeds to form lateral branches, 

 often with a tendency to lie flat on the ground, thus adding considerably to 

 the difficulty of extermination. 



Use such cutting instruments as are available and appropriate. Cut the 

 weed down faster than it can draw on its reserves. 



