100 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



In 1899 I estimated that in New South Wales 1,000, judiciously spent, 

 would entirely free us from the pest. Without any desire to be sensational, 

 I stated that, if allowed to spread unchecked, it would in a few years 

 deteriorate our territory to the value of a million of money. To-day 1920 

 this is probably not very wide of the mark. The weed has spread enor- 

 mously, and has already been proclaimed by twenty-seven municipalities 

 and fifty-five shires. 



Vernacular Names. It is called " Noogoora " burr in parts of Queens- 

 land, owing to its prevalence in that locality; the name is, however, scarcely 

 suitable in New South Wales. In. the United States it goes by the name 

 of Clot burr or Cockle burr. 



Botanical Name. Xanthium (already explained) ; strumarium, from the 

 Latin struma, a swelling, in allusion to the shape of the fruit. 



Reports from New South Wales in regard to it. It has been recorded 

 from New South Wales for at least twenty-three years. Following are two 

 reports concerning it: 



Mr. A. H. Hammond, of Rose Yale, Byron Bay, wrote under date 21st 

 April, 1896 : " I am forwarding a specimen of noxious weed which we 

 would like to know the name of. It has been brought here only recently, but 

 bids fair (as you will see by the seed) to spread far and wide in a very short 

 time. This specimen is the top of a plant 6 feet high, and the limbs at the 

 base are about 5 feet across. It grows very much like the castor-oil plant 

 when young. It is. at present growing on the side of a road, and if a noxious 

 weed, I think the maintenance man on that portion of the road should be 

 instructed to keep it brushed down." 



On the 15th April, 1896, Mr. Forester Pope wrote from Burringbar, 

 Tweed River : " I forward specimen of a burr which has recently made 

 its appearance in this district, and which, I fear, is likely to become a severe 

 pest if not checked in time. It is my belief that it was originally brought 

 here by men who brought horses from Queensland to work on the railway. 

 Mr. W. M. Charles, of ' Warrana,' Tweed River, says it is the ' Narcoora ' 

 (Noogoora) burr, and that he has seen whole paddocks destroyed by it. He 

 also says that the seeds will germinate after lying two years in the ground. 

 The plant grows to a height of 5 feet from the ground, with spreading 

 branches, covering a space 5 or 6 feet in diameter. The burrs when ripe 

 are light and easily catch in horses' manes and tails, from which they are 

 only removed with great difficulty. It is confined chiefly at present to the 

 Tweed district. I have seen very little of it on the Richmond, but I am 

 quite sure from what I have seen of it myself that, unless it is checked, the 

 consequences will be most serious. I have not noticed that anything will 

 eat the leaves. It dies in the winter, but comes up again stronger than 

 ever in the spring." 



Mr. G. H. Gordon, Chairman of the Warialda Sheep and Pastures Board, 

 writing to Mr. Bruce about the spreading of the burr in that district, said : 

 " During the week ending Sunday, 9th July, 1898, I visited with Mr. Kirk- 

 patrick, I.S., the country about Boggabilla, thence to Goondiwindi, at his 

 request and in compliance with your wish to him, and now advise that the 

 Noogoora burr has for this season advanced to a stage when it would be 

 useless in expending' money in cutting it. All that can be done, pro tern., 

 is to thresh it out about the Goondiwindi Bridge and Boggabilla Common 

 Crossing of the river, at a cost not to exceed from 10 to 15. By so doing 



