34 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



" The plan of campaign to extirpate Nut-grass is simply to prevent it- 

 maturing seed above ground. Nearly everybody thinks that the nuisance 

 reproduces itself from the nut alone, whereas it propagates a thousand times 

 more from the seed. Hence, to effectually and quickly destroy Nut-grass 

 on any land infested with it, the soil should be frequently stirred during the 

 growing period of summer, so as to stimulate each nut tuber and seed to 

 sprout. It is a waste of effort to attack it in winter, either by digging, 

 ploughing, or turning hogs on it. .The best time for fighting it is between 

 midsummer and frost time. . . . The old method for destroying Nut- 

 grass, by cutting it off under the surface of the ground every time a sprig- 

 appears above the surface, is a useless expenditure of labour." (Tillman, 

 quoted by Vasey and Dewey.) 



Dewey also recommends that it be choked out by a vigorous growing crop. 

 " After the summer crop is harvested, plough and prepare the land thor- 

 oughly; then seed it heavily to some winter crop adapted to the soil. 

 Crimson Clover is the best for this purpose in most localities." 



The best and fullest accounts of Nut-grass known to me are a circular on 

 the subject by L. H. Dewey, published in 1894 by the Division of Botany of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, and an article (Cyperus 

 , Benth.), in Watt's Dictionary of the Economic Products of India. 



Where Found. Indigenous to most tropical and temperate regions.. In- 

 digenous to Australia, though an introduction to many of the localities in 

 which it is now found. 



Although such an unmitigated nuisance in gardens and arable land, it is 

 so difficult to destroy in large areas, that shires and municipalities refrain 

 from proclaiming it. 



Water Hyacinth, (Eichhornia speciosa Kuntb. Pontederia 



crassipes, Mart.). 



(PONTEDERIACE.E). 



Like many other pests, the water hyacinth was introduced to our northern 

 rivers purely for its beauty as a flowering plant. Some twenty years ago a 

 couple of small, wilted, insignificant-looking plants were procured from a 

 home in one of the suburbs of Sydney, and placed in Swan Creek, situated 

 4 miles below South Graftoii, on the Clarence River, with the object of 

 beautifying the creek. The hyacinth, once liberated, thrived so well that in 

 two years it took complete possession of the creek, which in this particular 

 locality is about 50 yards wide and varies in depth from 10 to 35 feet. 



During the flowering season the creek was a pretty sight, and lovers of 

 flowers visited the locality from all parts of the district. Each, in depart- 

 ing, carried a small plant or two to place in watercourses near his or her own 

 home, and it was not very long before the hyacinth had been innocently 

 introduced to all parts of the district. Every flood or strong fresh in 

 the Clarence or Richmond brought down quantities of hyacinth, which 

 readily took root, and soon it was spreading so rapidly that acres of open 

 water were covered with it, and presently rivers and creeks that had been 



