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THE FARMERS HANDBOOK. 



SOME OF THE WORST WEEDS. 



The best guide to the relative importance of the weed pests of the State is 

 the number of shires and municipalities in which each weed is declared 

 noxious. The following descriptions and illustrations dual with a number of 

 those which are proclaimed by a large number of local bodies. 



Bathurst Burr (Xanihium spinosum Linn.). 



The Bathurst burr is a much-branched annual shrub, 1 to •"> feet high, and 

 very spinous. The fruit is nearly egg-shaped and covered with hooked 

 prickles, which readily attach it to the hides and fleeces of animals and the 

 clothes of man. The presence of burr greatly detracts from the value of 

 wool. 



Eradication is almost impossible, but by preventing the plants from 

 maturing seed by cutting in spring and summer, and by burning to destroy 



seeds as soon as the plants are dry enough, a measure of control can 

 be effected. 



The Bathurst burr is a proclaimed weed throughout the whole State of 

 New South Wales. 



True Star Thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa Linn.). 



A weak-stemmed, crawling, scrambling plant with small pink or purple 

 thistle like flowers. It forms masses - or •"> feet high and more than that in 

 diameter. The prickly leaves and flowers are sufficiently formidable to 



cause it to be handled very carefully. Its spreading habit protects the main 

 stem, so that it is not easy to get at the root for the purpose of destroying 

 the plant. 



Being an annual, the star thistle shouM be destroyed when just coming 

 into flower; it can be ploughed in if abundant. It bears an enormous 

 <juantity of seeds, which are wafted about by the wind. 



The list of shires and municipalities in which this pest has been j ro- 

 claimed is as follows : — 



Abercrombie 



AdjuDgbiUy 



Amaroo 



Bannockburn 



Barraba 



Berrigan 



Bibbenluke 



Bland 



Blaxland 



Canobolas 



Cariathool 



Cobbora 



Cockburn 



Coolainon 



Coreen 



Crookwell 



( lulcairn 



I >algety 



IXimaiesij 



Gadara 



Gilgandra 



(Joobang 



Goodradigbee 



Gostwyck 



Guudurimba 



( tunning 



I . v\ ydh 



Hume 



Jindalee 



Kyogle 



l.ai hlaii 



Liverpool Plains 



Lockhart 



Lyndhurst 



Shirk-. 



Macintyre 



Macquarie 



Mandowa 



Marthaguy 



Mitchell 



Mulwaree 



Murabulla 



M unay 



Murrumbidgee 



Murrungal 



Narraburra 



Nepean 



Oberou 



Patrick Plains 



Peel 



Rvlstone 



Talbragar 



Tallaganda 



Tamarang 



Tenterfield 



Terania 



Timbrebongie 



Tumbarumba 



Tweed 



W'akool 



Wallarobba 



Waradgery 



Waugoola 



Wingadee 



WoUondilly 



Woodburn 



Vat row hi m la 



