254 TUTIRA 



introduced four new aliens. With the crop itself appeared wild oats 

 (Avenafatua), a single plant of white lychnis (Lychnis vespertine*), and 

 stork's-bill (Erodium sicutarium) in abundance. Later, when the pad- 

 dock was shut up for a crop of ryegrass seed, there appeared a few 

 plants of meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis). At a later date this 

 valuable fodder-plant, purposely sown on the same piece of land, failed 

 utterly. It failed again when sown in 1902 on one of the trial plots 

 of the experimental farm. 



The sowing of Kahikanui Hill paddock was responsible for the 

 appearance of ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum), a plant 

 unpalatable to cattle only, and which has therefore never spread on 

 lands devoted almost exclusively to sheep. 



Corn thistle (Cnicus arvensis), in New Zealand rechristened Cali- 

 fornian or Canadian thistle, was first detected by me on Putorino, 

 having arrived either in badly dressed seed oats or in oaten chaff fed to 

 the plough team. It appeared after the laying down of a small field 

 near the homestead. 



Cnicus arvenis is in New Zealand amongst the weeds prescribed 

 by law, weeds for which the owner of the ground upon which they 

 appear, even to the roadsides, is made responsible. As, however, in 

 the early days of Canterbury settlement, the attempt to deal with 

 another thistle (Cnicus lanceolatus) failed, so in later days the effort 

 to cope with the corn thistle has broken down. A few Hawke's Bay 

 landowners have been prosecuted, a certain amount of thistle-cutting 

 has been done in a half-hearted and perfunctory manner sufficient, in 

 fact, to satisfy the local inspector of noxious weeds. 



Country settlers in truth have a pretty good idea of what can and 

 what cannot be done in practice. They knew in this instance that on 

 Government and native lands, unstocked and untenanted, the thistle 

 was spreading unchecked. They knew, moreover, that though here and 

 there in arable areas inspection was stern and severe, yet that elsewhere 

 its presence was winked at. The fact is that all the King's horses and 

 all the King's men cannot catch up a weed that has obtained a start. 

 No action is ever taken in time ; to begin with, the new plant is not 

 noticed in its unit stage ; when it numbers hundreds a few of the more 

 observant settlers become interested ; when thousands appear it is talked 

 of as a new-comer ; only when the hundred thousand phase is past, 

 when the plant has been carried or blown abroad to every corner of 



