THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 25 



Convolvulus arvensis. This is a bad pest in m!my parts of Australia. 

 Agricultural Gazette, N.S.W., IX, p. 358. Mr. H. L. White, of Belltrees, 

 Scone, points out that, as it has a deep-root system in certain areas, it is 

 practically indestructible by the ordinary cultivation methods. He is trying 

 grazing with sheep to eat the tops, and thus exhaust and destroy the plant. 

 See the Journal of Agriculture, Victoria, XII, p. 343. Ada Georgia, p. 321. 



Cy perns rotundus. This is dealt with at p. 30. It is far more abundant 

 with us than in Victoria, and yet it is not a proclaimed weed with us, for 

 the reason that, in our warm, coastal districts it is practically impossible 

 to eradicate it. 



Erechthites quadridentata. A native plant which no one in New South 

 Wales appears to have officially reported. For Victoria, see Ewart, p. 39; 

 for Queensland, see Bailey, p. 90. 



Gilia squarrosa. There is a note on it in the Agricultural Gazette for 

 April, 1901, when it was first announced for Australia. It is still spread- 

 ing in the Tumbarumba district. Ewart figures it. 



LorantTius. No concerted action has been taken to destroy our native 

 mistletoes, partly because they are often on high trees and the cost would 

 be great, partly because of their abundance, and partly because they are 

 palatable to stock. 



Lycium horridum. We proscribe two species already, but local authorities 

 have not made any application in regard to this one. 



Myagntm perfoliatum. See p. 23. 



Romulea cruciata. This is figured in the Agricultural Gazette for 1901, 

 p. 232. It is in New South Wales in countless millions, chiefly in .grass 

 land, and, speaking generally, it is not easy to suggest a practical method of 

 destruction. It is one of those all-pervading weeds of the Wild Onion class 

 (see p. 38) and Nut Grass (see p. 30). 



Senecio Jacobea. Figured by Ewart. Causes disease in stock. It is a 

 well-known pest in New Zealand and South Africa. 



Acacia armata. The fact that Victoria has had to proscribe this Wattle- 

 hedge (often called Kangaroo thorn), should put us on our guard. It seeds 

 freely, and forms a rapidly-spreading thorny barrier which affords a refuge 

 for rabbits and other vermin. 



Andropogon halepense. This is a valuable grass under some circum- 

 stances, but a curse if it gets into the cultivation. It would be difficult to 

 proscribe a grass of this kind in New South Wales. 



Cassinia arcuata. This is a native bush which seeds abundantly and 

 spreads rapidly on rocky hillsides. We have a number of allied species. 



Cytisus canarien^is. C. scoparius is proscribed in New South Wales. 

 I have received the former as a garden escape from the Goulburn district. 



Erysimum repandum (figured by Ewart; not formally recorded for New 

 South Wales), and Lepidium Draba. These are two weeds belonging to the 

 Cress family. The latter is a small, white-flowered plant, which has been 

 recorded as a pest in many country districts. 



Madia, sativa. This is already in New South Wales. See the Agricultural 

 Gazette for February, <1896. It has spread since then. 



Salvia verbenacea. This is widely diffused in Australia. As regards Ne\v 

 South Wales, farmers and others have sent it to me for many years. Sco 

 Black, p. 124; Ewart, p. 52. 



