|
From
a New South Wales' perspective...
The Spread of Prickly Pear |
Early legislation |
Changes to legislation |
Cactoblastis |
 Prickly pear
is in our history books as one of the most invasive
weeds ever imported into Australia. It
had a devastating impact on life in rural eastern Australia
during the early part of the 20th century. Special acts
of Parliament were passed to enforce control measures in an attempt to
halt its spread through Queensland and New South Wales. The story started over two
hundred years ago...
Introduction of
Prickly Pear into Australia
 The
first plants of prickly pear species were brought into Australia on the First
Fleet. Captain Arthur Phillip collected a number of COCHINEAL-INFESTED plants
from Brazil on his way to establish the first white settlement at Botany Bay.
 Prickly
pear first came to New South Wales with the First Fleet. It was to be used to
establish a cochineal dye Industry... The photo on the left shows young
cochineal insects feeding on a pad of prickly pear. The adults grow to
about the size of a "match head" and when squashed produce red colouring.
(Click on photos to download larger version...)
At that time, Spain and Portugal had a world-wide monopoly
on the important cochineal dye industry and the British Government was keen to
set up its own source of supply within its dominion. The red dye derived from
cochineal insects was important to the western world's clothing and garment
industries. It was, for example, the dye used to colour the British soldiers' red coats.
It was at the instigation of Sir Joseph Banks that a cochineal
dye industry was established at Botany Bay. Little is known of the fate of those
first plants introduced by Captain Phillip, but it is believed that the
particular variety of prickly pear brought to Australia in the First Fleet to
set up a dye industry was "smooth tree pear" (Opuntia vulgaris). This
type of cactus is still found along coastal areas of New South Wales, and is
classified as a noxious weed. However, Opuntia vulgaris never
developed into a major problem as did some of its relatives - especially
Opuntia stricta spp. and O. aurantiaca.
 "Common
pest pear" (Opuntia stricta spp.) was the variety of prickly pear that overran
NSW and Qld between 1900 and 1930. (Left, close-up of a common pear
plant - photo V.H. Gray, Sydney. Right, common pear - "Millencowbah",
Collarenebri 26 Jun 1987)
The
Spread of Prickly
Pear in Australia
There is no information on the original introduction of common
pest pear into Australia from the Americas. It was first recorded as being
cultivated for stock fodder in the Parramatta district in the early 1800's.
There is also a record of a pot plant being taken to Scone, NSW in 1839 where it
was grown in a station garden. The property manager later planted it in various
paddocks with the idea that it would be a good stand-by for stock in a drought
year.
It has also been recorded that a pla nt of common pear was taken from Sydney to Warwick,
Queensland in 1848 for use as a garden plant, with a strong recommendation that
it would be a good fruiting and hedge plant!
Early settlers took plants to other parts of New South Wales and Queensland because of its potential use as an alternate food source for stock,
especially during dry times. It was also planted at various homesteads as a
hedge. The hedges flourished and bore fruit. Excess pieces were dumped in the
bush. With all this help, prickly pear quickly established over a large area.
 Prickly pear literally exploded! The accommodating climate and
the general lack of natural enemies accounted for its amazing spread - still
considered by many experts to be one of the botanical wonders of the world.
From garden plants to hedges and then into the paddock, prickly
pear became acclimatised and spread at an alarming rate. It eventually claimed
some 60 million acres (25,000,000 hectares) of Queensland and New South Wales
(see map, right, Alan P Dodd's 1940). Many people were forced
off their lands.
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Legislation to Control Prickly Pear
Prickly pear started to cause concern about 1870, but it was not
until 1886 that the first (Commonwealth) Prickly-pear Destruction Act was passed. This
Act placed obligations upon owners and occupiers of land to destroy pear. The
Act provided for the appointment of inspectors to implement its provisions. Some amendments to the
Commonwealth Act were carried out in 1901. By then, however, the horse had
bolted!
In 1924, New South Wales brought its own legislation into effect. The (NSW) Prickly-pear Act 1924 provided for the setting up of a Prickly-pear
Destruction Commission, with wide powers to deal with the prickly pear
problem.
 The Train Trip
An interesting piece of history, in its own right! It seems that, even as
late as 1924 when
 the pear was virtually out of control
in northern NSW, very few NSW state
politicians understood the full extent of the problem. In
order to bring about a change in mindset, the then NSW
Minister for Lands W E Wearne (from Bingara NSW)
conducted 27 fellow politicians on a train tour to Moree and
Bingara to demonstrate, first-hand, the impact prickly pear was having on rural
areas. While the tour had the desired outcome (the Prickly Pear Act 1924
came into being shortly afterwards), the media gave the tour a
fair "bashing" as shown in these two newspaper extracts (images, left and right, kindly donated to this
webpage by John Wearne, Bingara, grandson of the former Minister for Lands. The pages are a bit slow to download because of all the text).
 The
situation is hopeless...
By 1925, prickly pear was completely out of control, infesting
s ome twenty-five
million hectares in New South Wales and Queensland. It was spreading at the rate
of half a million hectares a year and nobody could stop its progress!
Tremendous
effort went into mechanical and chemical treatment programs, but the pear could
not be contained.
 The historical photo, right, shows one of the early and
drastic treatment
methods - fumes from a boiling arsenic mixture drifting across the pear (circa 1919 - photographer
unknown). According to former Commissioner Garry Ryan, this method was
used with some success during the clearing of land for the building of the
Moree-Boggabilla railway line.
NB. The
Queensland Prickly Pear Land Commission 1926 annual report stated that the
amount of poison sold in Queensland that year would treat 9,450,000 tons of prickly pear! Chemicals included 31,100 (10 & 20lb) tins of arsenic pentoxide and 27,950
containers (ranging in size from 2g earthenware jars to 42g steel drums) of Roberts Improved Pear Poison. (I
have no figures for the chemical
treatment program undertaken in New South Wales during this same period.)
 The photo on the left
is an amazing record from the
Queensland Prickly Pear Land Commission
annual report, 1926-27, listing
bounties paid for the destruction of emus, emu eggs, crows and scrub magpies
(these birds feasted on the plentiful prickly pear fruit, thus contributing to
the further spread of prickly pear)... Please keep this document in context, however. They were desperate times - prickly pear
was totally out of control!
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Cactoblastis - the
answer!
 The
answer to the main prickly pear problem came in the form of biological control. As the amazing spread of
prickly pear in eastern Australia was considered to be one of the botanical
wonders of the world, its virtual destruction by cactoblastis caterpillars (Cactoblastis
cactorum) is still regarded as the world's most spectacular example of
successful weed biological control. The first liberations of cactoblastis were made in 1926,
after extensive laboratory testing to ensure they would not move into other
plant species.
Within six years, most of the original, thick
stands of pear were gone.
Properties previously abandoned were reclaimed and
brought back into production.
But, while this sounds like a happy ending, the story
continues...
 Cactoblastis
was not effective in all areas
(photo left - PP Inspector Jack Bailes
amongst common pear Scone
area June 1938 - photo by Norris J Small)
Cooler climates were less favourable for insect proliferation - other forms of
control had to be pursued. While common pear received all the "limelight" from
1900 to 1930, other varieties of prickly pear were becoming established. One of
these was "tiger pear" (Opuntia aurantiaca), now our worst
prickly pear variety. (Photo on right shows Garry Ryan spraying tiger pear
with a misting machine - Pilliga NSW area, circa 1975 - photo V.H. Gray,
Sydney.)
Further
Amendments to the Act
The Prickly Pear Act, 1924, was amended in 1944. That Act,
1924-1944, remained in force until 1987 when it was replaced by the Prickly Pear Act, 1987.
The Prickly Pear Act 1987
was repealed in 1996. All major prickly pear species were declared as
"noxious weeds" under the Noxious Weeds Act 1983 and as such came under the umbrella of local government.
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Editor's note
 The
history of prickly pear in New South Wales and the stories of the many people
who worked on the former (NSW) Prickly-pear Destruction Commission is worth
recording. The information on this web page (a lot of it taken from earlier Prickly-pear Destruction Commission booklets put together by
 Commissioners Vic Gray and later
Garry Ryan) is a start. Please also refer to the attached web page
PRICKLY PEAR - CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS.
(Photo,
right: Commissioner Victor H Gray's
farewell - PPDC staff and partners, Scone Depot 1979 - photo by Ian Gray)
 I have more information and photographs
to add as time permits, but would welcome any other stories, photographs, or
comments, for consideration for this website. (Photo left: PPDC staff,
Scone Depot planning meeting 1993)
If I have failed to acknowledge a
quotation,
photograph or other object please let me know. Similarly, persons using
this website are asked to acknowledge the source if they choose to (and please
feel free to do so) reproduce any photographs or articles from
this site. Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs used in this website
were taken by and are the property of Les Tanner.
Les Tanner, North West Weeds, 20 Dinoga
Street, Bingara.
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PRICKLY
PEAR PHOTO GALLERY - separate page within this website...
PRICKLY PEAR - CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS - 1788 TO
2000 - separate page
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North West Weeds
