94 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



A Mr. Burgess wrote from East Maitland : " It grows very plentifully in 

 the local show ground. The fruits are very sharp and hard, and it is almost 

 impossible to sit' on the grass. The fruits also enter the bicycle tyres, and 

 in the course of a day or two work their way through and cause a puncture. 

 The local name is ' Jo Jo.' " 



The Mayor of Lambton wrote : " Lambton Park is at present overrun with 

 it. It has completely grown all over the 20 acres, and is a menace to cattle."' 



It seems to have a preference for well-kept grounds for cricket and other 

 games. 



It is impossible to say when it first came to Australia. New South Wales 

 has had direct traffic with South America for very many years, and it is very 

 likely that it came in the tails of horses to Sydney or Eden, or some other 

 part of the South Coast more than half a century ago. It is inconspicuous 

 and therefore could easily be passed over unless you sat on it. 



While a native of Chili, it has spread extensively in other parts of South 

 America, and also to California. It is now widely distributed in sub- 

 tropical countries. 



How to get rid of it. When it is present in quantity it is too costly to 

 attempt to deal with it, except in the case of valuable lawns. In such 

 cases I would get rid of it partly by means of a small, sharp steel trowel, 

 and partly by encouraging the growth of the couch grass by top-dressing, 

 and also by the use of such a stimulant as sulphate of ammonia, which will 

 cause a heavy and smothering growth of grass. There seems no trouble with 

 buffalo grass, the weed, as a rule, losing itself under the coarse mat of this 

 grass. 



Bathurst Burr (Xanthium spinosum L.). 



(COMPOSITE: A Family which includes Daisies and plants widely differing 



in aspect.) 



This pest owes its name to its having been first prominently brought to- 

 notice at Bathurst, in this State. At the present time no product, no 

 institution of the " City of the Plains," is so identified with it as this 

 wretched weed. The association clings to Bathurst as tenaciously as the 

 burr to a fleece; but it is undeserved, as the weed is far more abundant in 

 some other parts of the State. 



It originally came in the tails of horses from Valparaiso, Chili, South 

 America, in the forties. I think it came to Twofold Bay first. Not many 

 years afterwards it arrived at Bathurst, via Molong. At Bathurst it was 

 first noticed on the site of the Old Black Bull Inn, corner of Bentinck and 

 Howick streets. 



Its hooked fruits readily attach themselves to the hides and fleeces of 

 animals, and the clothing of man. The presence of these burrs greatly 

 depreciates the value of wool; what with the actual deterioration of wool,. 

 and the cost of the labour in eradicating the plant, it must have cost the 

 State enormous sums already, and is at the present time a steady drain on 

 the resources of the State. 



For some notes on the spread of this burr on advertisement cards, see 

 p. 12 of this work 



