1 Noy., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, 461 
shows the wide distribution of the plant and the interest taken in the subject 
of its control. Mr. W. Gibson, of Bundaberg, who has had to fight it in sugar 
land, recommended the use of the Planet Junior cultivator, and it was stated - 
that molasses spread over the land eradicated it, Other gentlemen spoke of it 
as a green manure when ploughed in, and as an ingredient in cow-feed. The 
system, so often recommended, of making enclosures on the land affected and 
allowing pigs to run in them, was also advocated. Some advised frequent 
ploughing. It was stated that nut-grass was well known to some of the 
speakers in the Brisbane district thirty-five years ago. 
When one takes seriously in hand to conquer an enemy, the first thing is 
to become acquainted with that enemy’s tactics, and so we will consider for a 
moment what nut-grass is, how it behaves itself, and what are the particular 
qualities which render it so objectionable to the horticulturist and farmer. As 
regards our knowledge of itin the first instance, it was well known to and employed 
hy the ancients. Homer mentions it, and in his day it was used as a component of 
horse-feed. In the famous description of the sanguinary fight in the bed of the 
River Scamander it is mentioned, and is wrongly translated “the cypress rising 
in aspire” by Pope. Chapman more correctly translates it “ Galingale,” as 
does Way (1888). Herodotus says that the Scythians used it for the purpose of 
embalming. Pliny and several other ancient writers refer to it in 
It is well known throughout India, the South of Bur 
Australia, having well-recognised names in the native dialects, according to Mr. 
Maiden, who has written a most useful and interesting paper on the subject. 
It is an extremely troublesome weed in the Southern States of North America, 
and is also reported to be a pest of cultivation in the West Indies. 
In India it is held in great repute amongst native practitioners, and the 
writer can vouch for its efficacy in a severe attack of dyspepsia succeeding 
dysentery. If you scrape one of the tubers you will find that the flesh under. 
neath is white inclining to yellow. If you slowly chew this you will find that 
the taste is a most peculiar one, not remarkably unpleasant, and it is a little 
curious that after a time one gets to quite like the taste. Tt produces usually a 
somewhat peculiar sensation on the back part of the palate, as though through 
the liberation of a volatile oil. There is a sensation in the taste of very dilute 
turpentine, which, however, it is difficult to exactly describe. The nut is said 
by native doctors in Bengal to have a most stimulating effect upon the mucous 
membrane, and to be so mild in its action that it can be safely recommended to 
persons suffering from acute forms of stomach disorders. ']¢ is also claimed 
that it has a marked effect in producing insensible perspiration. In the manu- 
facture of scent the tubers are largely used in Bengal. 
Botanically, nut-grass is not really a grass, but a sedge. You can always 
tell a grass from a sedge by the fact that in the sedge the stalk is not jointed 
as in the grass, and is usually three-cornered, while in the grass itis round. 
The two illustrations will give a good idea of the general appearance of the 
plant. In Plate I. is shown a mass of the tubers all joined up together by long 
filaments. During the winter months the tubers lie dormant, nal in the spring 
from these dormant tubers (so-called nuts) long white filamentous shoots are 
sent out. These shoots are true underground stems, and are furnished with 
sheathing leaf-like scales. ‘The shoots vary in length. In soft rich ground 
they are 5 or G inches long, and in hard, compact, and poor soil much shorter. 
Indeed, the behaviour of the whole plant varies so much in cultivated and 
uncultivated ground that italmost seems to be a distinct species, were it not for 
the fact that the small variety of uncultivated land at once becomes robust 
when changed to worked soil. When the shoot has proceeded a little way 
from the parent tubers, aly yays in a horizontal, and never in a vertical direction, 
except under cireumstances to be presently mentioned, a thickening takes place 
near the end of the growing shoot. This thickening is white and pear-shaped. 
The small end grows on and begins to turn up to the light; and from. the 
thicker end or base, a. crown of delicate white roots is sent out. These spread 
into the surrounding earth, and begin to forage for sustenance for the coming 
1 various Ways. 
ope, and almost all 
