18 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



not surprising that weeds make their first appearance on them. The weed- 

 seeds may be contained in the manure of the animals or in the packing of 

 merchandise. Seeds also may be blown on to the road from a long dis- 

 tance. The manured road-detritus blown to the side of the road, forms an 

 admirable nidus for the weed-seeds and, if left undisturbed, they flourish 

 exceedingly. The officers of the Government and of Shire and Municipal 

 Councils are getting much more alive to their responsibilities in regard to 

 weed-destruction on the roads than was the case a few years ago. The land 

 inside railway fences is an excellent place for the growth of weeds in many 

 places, in spite of the fact that there is some organised method of firing 

 them. I always make for a railway line enclosure for the purpose of making 

 a collection of good specimens of the weeds of a district, and the same pro- 

 tection is also excellent for the smaller native flora. 



(d) Weed Legislation. 



As Australia becomes developed, there is an increasing tendency in all the 

 States to increase local self-government, and coping with weeds becomes 

 usually one of the functions of local bodies. The underlying idea is that 

 local people know what plants are most noxious to them, and the function 

 of the State Governments is indorsement of their recommendations for 

 proscription of specific weeds, subject to power of veto. This affords the 

 necessary Government control, preventing local bodies, which may not have 

 special knowledge, taking action prejudicial to their own interests. 



The Prickly Pear (Opuntia) is. dealt with by special legislation, both in 

 New South Wales and in Queensland. What has been stated so far refers 

 to weeds after they have got a footing in Australia. 



To prevent the entry of undesirable plants into the Commonwealth, the 

 Federal Government, in 1908, passed " An Act relating to Quarantine.' 7 

 An appendix to this Act forbids the entry of plants affected by certain 

 diseases (chiefly caused by fungi), and mostly affecting economic plants. 

 Another appendix prohibits certain weeds. These weeds have, however, 

 already got a firm hold in the Commonwealth, and some are very widely 

 diffused; the object is to put difficulties in the way of the importation of 

 known pests into clean areas, leaving the circulation of weed-pests, already 

 in the Commonwealth, the business of the State Governments. 



In this connection a paper, "Weed-seeds and Impurities in Imported 

 Seeds," by E. Breakwell, Agricultural Gazette, KS.W., September, 1918, 

 p. 633, is valuable. It not only shows specifically the weed-seeds arrested in 

 a definite period, admixed with agricultural and other seeds imported into 

 New South Wales, but how difficult in practice it must be to screen evevy 

 new weed out of the State. 



Many of the Australian weeds were introduced into the country in the very 

 first years of settlement. They came from Britain in the packing of goods 

 sent in the first fleet, from Rio de Janeiro, the Cape, and Calcutta, the two 

 former being ports of call on the outward voyage, and the two latter being 

 visited from Sydney for food supplies. Later on a trade in horses with 

 Chilian ports was responsible for the introduction of such plants as 

 the Bathurst burr (Xanthium spinosum). 



As time went by, no restriction of any kind was placed on the introduc- 

 tion of plants, and gradually the varieties of weeds increased to the present 

 formidable total, and, being let loose on a virgin continent, brought about 

 unexpected results. 



