As English settlers took up land in the district, they planted varieties of seedlings that reminded them of the Old Country. It was not long however, before the disadvantages of importing and growing such plants became clear as they quickly became invasive.
Gorse was used as an impervious fence and grew well in stony ground, bearing prolific yellow flowers in summer.
Initially the first seedlings were carefully looked after and protected from being chocked by fern or rooted out by pigs, but the gorse began to self-seed and grow rapidly, becoming a problem on the roads and land in the country districts. In 1861, the Nelson Provincial Council passed an Act to prevent the planting of gorse hedges.
Another pest plant, described by some as the greatest scourge on the country, was the introduction of the blackberry. Like gorse, the plant quickly spread and became a noxious weed. Various solutions to control the blackberry were tried and failed, until the 1940’s when a hormone spray was developed to control the plant.
In 1908, Mr Higgins of Belgrove believed he found the answer to the problem of noxious weeds, using Angora-cross goats.
Around 1899, Higgins, having heard a great deal about the goats, decided to try them, importing one buck and three does, all pure bred Angoras from Taylor White of Hawkes Bay.
He also ran 12 common does, this being the foundation of a herd of 100 goats. For around two years he used the herd on land where blackberry, briar, and gorse had become rampant.
Higgins had some 1,300 acres of land and, after having grazed them for a time, the plants were coming under control.
Higgins, before acquiring the goats, spent about three months every year cutting out blackberries and other noxious growth, but the cutting seemed to stimulate the growth and the following year there was more to cut out. With the use of the goats, cutting out was reduced to three weeks a year instead of three months. The longer they were on the land, it appeared that the time needed on cutting out was reduced, with hope it could be eliminated.
An advantage for farmers was that the goats got no wages, they worked long hours and did not take a day of rest, and on the top of that, provided their owner with a crop of mohair worth good money.
In July 1908, Mr A. Blundell, (Inspector) observed two paddocks where the results of the goats were seen with the land being studded with dead blackberry bushes, or bushes on their last legs, and gorse bushes that were not healthy, having been chewed.
The paddocks were developing a good growing of grass. When questioned on his methods, Higgins was able to state that, even when he had turned the goats onto a grass paddock in which gorse and blackberries were growing, the goats went first for these plants.
In a gully of around 40 acres, there was scarcely a blackberry to be seen. Higgins ran 70 goats on the gully land for a year and was then able to put sheep in to feed on the grass. The results witnessed by the inspector gave sufficient evidence to support the claim that Angora goats could be used to eliminate noxious weeds.
