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30 January 1937
ST. JOHN'S WORT.
Problem on Nullo Mountain.
RYLSTONE, Friday.
A special meeting of the Rylstone Shire
Council was held to consider the noxious weed question. Mr. K. G. Carn, special weeds officer of the Department of Agriculture, and Mr. G. Nicholson, senior agriculture instructor, were present to advise the council of the best methods that might be used In the eradication of St. John's Wort on Nullo Mountain, in the Rylstone Shire.
Mr. D. D. Macfarlane presided.
Mr. Carn said that he had visited the Nullo Mountain with Mr. Nicholson, and found that the weed was a big problem, as 3000 to 4000 acres were Infested. The serious position had not been exaggerated in any way. The pest was firmly established. With the rich basalt country, this region was ideally suitable for pasture Improvement.
On private land, St. John's Wort was very bad. but settlers were trying to keep it under control on cleared ground only. If the country was opened up this weed would spread.
The Government had made available, through the Rural Bank, financial assistance for weed eradication, and £100,000 had been set aside for that purpose, A decided move had been made by the department all over the State in regard to St. John's Wort. In the southern districts, five shires contributed £900, which was subsidised by the Government, and this money was spent each year on eradication and clearing of waterways. Poison and salt had been used by means of a spray tank. The country was similar to the Nullo Mountain. The settlers are doing most good by introducing Subterranean Clover, which gradually worked the weed out. Experiments had also been made with black-faced sheep, and a remarkable success had been achieved with Suffolks. The lambs fattened and realised up to 25/ per head. He was convinced by the Tumbarumba experiment, comprising 15,000 acres, that the problem could be handled by pastoralists1 .
30 December 1948
Beetle Makes War on Weed
MUDGEE, Wednesday: A beetle which has cleared the noxious weed, St. John's Wort from many wild areas of grazing and farm lands in South Australia is also doing excellent work in the Mudgee, and Rylstone districts.
Landholders are so pleased with the small insect's efforts that arrangements have been made with the CSIR to supply the Mid western County Council with an additional 250,000 of the beetles for liberation in new colonies of noxious weeds. The beetle attacks and destroys only St. John's Wort. The weeds officer of the County Council (Mr. Ken. Watt) says that farmers in the Gulgong and Cudgegong Shires are doing splendid work in the campaign to destroy large areas of skeleton weed2 .