THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 55 



In the Agricultural Gazette for December, 1907, I published a short paper, 

 entitled ^Hexham Scent Identical with King Island Melilot Farmers 

 Beware," in which I protested against this State being flooded with seed 

 of the above plant. My readers can turn to the original, and will observe 

 that the protest is not an exaggerated one. The result was a flood of news- 

 paper articles and correspondence in all the States, in volume I do not 

 remember to have seen equalled during the thirty-six years I have been 

 writing 1 011 weed subjects. Some of the articles were very personal, and 

 suggested that it was a case of State jealousy in regard to a dependency of 

 a smaller State (Tasmania). As the result of eight years' more experience, 

 I retract nothing, and the controversy is useful, as showing 'that different 

 opinions can be held in regard to this plant. There is an old and analogous 

 saying that " one man's food is another man's poison." Further, we may 

 say that it has been proved over and over again that a plant is only a weed 

 under special circumstances. Lovers of gardens in Sydney and further 

 south will remember the pretty little Ageratum conyzoides with pleasure, 

 but on the Bellinger and further north, particularly in Queensland, it 

 becomes a perfect pest, invading grass paddocks, and it goes under the name 

 of " Billy Goat Weed." It is the same with animal life. In certain places 

 the conditions are so favourable to multiplication, combined with absence 

 of enemies, that they become overwhelming, and are called pests. It is 

 desirable to remind ourselves of these truths. The pest Prickly Pear never 

 knew its capacity for spreading until somebody took a piece from Scone to 

 the Condamine early in the forties. There was no precedent for it. 



Hexham Scent has been sold in Sydney and elsewhere under the name 

 Melilotus officinalis, with the following note: 



" This is nearly related to Bokhara Clover, and has the same strong smell 

 and deep-rooting habits. It is a wonderfully successful fodder plant on the 

 poor sandy coast lands at King Island, off the coast of Tasmania. It grows 

 there most luxuriantly, and the cattle fatten rapidly upon it. It should 

 only be sown on poor sandy country with a good rainfall." 



I have no objection to this advice, which should be taken literally. Con- 

 fine it to the coastal strip, and best of all to the extreme south coast from, say, 

 the Victorian border to as far north as, say, the Shoalhaven. These areas 

 are exposed during the winter to abundant rain and cold saline winds, the 

 climatic conditions approximating as far as we can match them in New 

 South Wales to those of King Island. But I protest, with all the vehe- 

 mence of which I am "capable, against sending it inland or to our best and 

 even second-rate lands. 



I may mention that M. officinalis is a wrong name. Of M. officinalis, 

 the Department of Agriculture of the United States says: 



" This European species has become widely naturalised in this country. 

 It possesses little value not enough to warrant its cultivation. It grows 

 in swamps and wet meadows." 



My final contribution to the 1907-8 discussion was in the following words, 

 and I think they fairly state the position to-day : 



I wonder if those gentlemen who are interested in selling King Island seed 

 have any practical knowledge of Hexham Scent in New South Wales. I have 

 travelled a great deal in this State, and have heard many of our farmers 



