-18 MALVACEE. 
The plant contains an. oil whose medicinal value was formerly highly 
esteemed ; but this oil, and the woody nature of the plant, render it some- 
what injurious in fodder, 
The St. John’s Wort is a native of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It 
appears to have been originally a garden escape, and has spread to a 
remarkable extent, chiefly owing to the enormous amount of uncultivated 
or imperfectly cultivated land which Victoria possesses. In England, 
the plant though common is not listed anywhere as an agricultural weed, 
and in fact it stands no chance against cleanly and moderately intense 
cultivation. On cultivated land, deep ploughing, coupled with fallowing 
and root crops, will soon suppress the evil. If the plant is very thick 
a year’s bare fallow, with one deep ploughing and two to four shallower 
ones, will be necessary for the preliminary cleaning. The deep ploughing 
cuts the roots deep down, the shallow ploughing during the dry season 
destroys any shoots these may form. If deep ploughing brings up much 
poor subsoil heavy dressings (20 to 30 tons per acre) of farmyard manure, 
leaves, twigs, wood chips, bark, or sawdust are needed. A potato crop in 
the following year gives shoots from below no chance, and a root crop 
may be required in the third year before the land is safe for grain. 
Drainage, liming, manuring and the maintenance of an open pervious soil 
are all factors which favour the growth of agricultural plants more than 
they do that of St. John’s Wort, and hence are all aids to its suppression. 
No poisons have any practical value in dealing with this plant; the 
cost is prohibitive, and the effects uncertain, while doses sufficient to produce 
any permanent result destroy the agricultural value of the land, temporarily 
at least. The same applies to the use of salt. 
On forest land it does little or no harm, and if the trees are closely 
planted and especially if Conifers are used, the St. John’s Wort is soon 
suppressed. The weed is most troublesome on pasture land, and since it 
attains several feet in height it overtops all but the largest. and coarsest 
grasses. Such land can only be efficiently cleaned by bringing it under 
the plough for a time, at least. Where this is not possible, frequent 
mowing as often as new shoots grow up will do much to keep the plant 
down, but only if the new shoots are cut off before the leaves on them 
have attained full size. Infested land which cannot be ploughed should 
be planted with trees, preferably Conifers. 
Since the plant is a perennial, and spreads from the roots, two or three 
years’ treatment are required to exhaust it, while since the plant seeds 
freely, re-infection from neighbouring neglected land is likely to occur. If 
proper attention were paid to the simple modes of treatment mentioned, the 
weed would soon be no more troublesome than it is in England, especially 
if care is taken to use pure seed, free from that of weeds, in replanting 
cleared areas. Quite extraordinary carelessness seems to have bee1: shown 
in the past as to avoiding this obvious way of spreading the pest by impure 
seed from infested areas. 
Proclaimed for the whole State. 
Hypericum Androsemum, L. Tutsan. This is an ally of the St. 
John’s Wort, which appears to be spreading rapidly near Apollo Bay. 
A little attention to the weed at the present day, by the local authorities, 
would avoid a possibly considerable loss in the future. Introduced; a 
native of Europe, and Asia Minor. 
Matvace&® (Mattow Famity). 
A fairly large and widely distributed order, especially in warm regions. 
The flowers are easily recognised by the numerous stamens being’ united 
