Care of the Crop

Prior to the arrival of Europeans on these shores the labour of keeping food plantations clear of weeds was very much lighter than it has been since that important event. This was owing to the introduction of many weeds, among which may be numbered certain species so intrusive and tenacious that eradication was an impossibility, such as the sorrel and dock. Others, such as the thistle and dandelion with their wind-blown seeds, though not so difficult to remove individually, are equally persistent. These introduced weeds gave native agriculturists a vast deal of extra work for some time, until their increasing apathy and carelessness led to neglect of weeding operations to a great extent. The few indigenous weeds of this land were not so persistent or difficult of removal. Some, such as Solanum nigrum, seeded freely but were easily removed. A plant called kohukohu was another of such weeds, also a plant called puha, and the common bracken (Pteris), with a few others.

In former times the natives kept their crops very carefully weeded. The operations of weeding, loosening soil round plants, and all such attentions came into the meaning of the expressive verb ngaki. Of a field of some forty acres of kumara and potatoes seen by him at Waimate, Nicholas remarks that:—"The plants were all disposed in the most perfect order, and the weeds rooted out with minute exactness."

In his account of a native village seen at the Bay of Islands in December, 1814, J. L. Nicholas again writes:—"Around this town, if it may be so called, were several plantations of potatoes, kumara, and other vegetables, and the cultivation had such an appearance of neatness and regularity, that a person not acquainted with the character of the natives, could never suppose it was the work of uncivilised barbarians. Each plantation was carefully fenced in… not a weed was to be seen."

Again, Nicholas remarks:—"The plantations on the hill which appeared to such advantage at a distance, improved still more on a nearer view of them, and everything bespoke not only the neatness, but even the good taste of the cultivators. Not a weed was to be seen, and the paling, which was ingenious though simple, gave an effect to the enclosure that was peculiarly striking." Again, he writes:—"As we left the village we crossed over some plantations of kumara and potatoes, which were neatly cultivated, and had stiles at convenient distances, with a page 212regular pathway running through them, such as might be seen in a field in England." This was near Waitangi, Bay of Islands.

Polack wrote in the early part of last century:—"The native plantations have ever been cultivated with a degree of neatness far surpassing the generality of European farms, and greatly superior to the agriculturists in British America and the United States. Their principal defect has arisen from want of invention and materials to diminish manual labour, but certainly does not deteriorate from the extreme cleanliness in weeding and general neatness of their plantations." Polack was a somewhat careless writer, but his works contain some interesting matter.

Archdeacon Walsh has left us the following remarks on this subject:—"The work of cleaning the growing crop was a comparatively light one in the old days, as the host of troublesome weeds that have accompanied European cultivation had not then made their appearance. One weeding was considered sufficient, and it was done in the dry summer weather by a party made tapu for the occasion, and armed with small wooden spades shaped something like a short paddle. Care, however, had to be taken to prevent the vines from rooting on the surface, as this was found to reduce the strength of the plant…. Captain Cook noticed that the plantations were fenced in, generally with reeds, which were placed so closely together that there was scarcely room for even a mouse to creep between! This was done to shelter the crop from the strong winds which blew in the early summer; and in exposed situations additional breakwinds, formed of fern or tea-tree fronds stuck in the ground, were set up in lines across the plantation. This system may be seen at the present day in the settlements along the Taranaki coast."

As before observed even in most sheltered situations a plantation might be surrounded by a light fence, in order to protect the crops from the ravages of the swamp hens.

Of the caterpillar pest known as hotete and awhato the above writer remarks:—"With the exception of the hotete, a caterpillar about 2½ in. to 3 in. long, the larva of a large moth, the kumara does not seem to have had many enemies amongst the insect world. Though rarely seen of late years, probably owing to the introduction of the pheasant, the starling, &c., in old times it was often very abundant, appearing suddenly in countless numbers, and making complete havoc of the crop by stripping the leaves… they were carefully collected and burnt.

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Some natives state that the moeone, a form of earth grub, was another pest in kumara fields, also the kowhitiwhiti or grasshopper. The kauwaha, mentioned at p. 148 of Vol. 14 of the Journal of the Polynesian Society I am not acquainted with.

Among the Matatua natives the name of ahi torongu or ahi patu torongu was applied to the peculiar rite performed by an expert in order to destroy the caterpillars attacking the crop. It was a magic act, and, next morning, the caterpillars would be seen past all help, hanging from the leaves of the plants; at least so I was informed by old Pio of Te Teko.

The awhato or awheto develops into the hawk moth, known to science as Sphinx convolvuli, and to the Maori as hihue. This latter is evidently a descriptive and appropriate name (hue, the gourd, plant and fruit; hi, to draw up) to apply to this creature so often seen on the flowers of the plant.