Lice to lick superweed? (From The Northern Echo)

Lice to lick superweed?

11:10am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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I WAS fascinated to read that a species of jumping plant louse from Japan is to be released in the UK in an attempt to control the spread of Japanese knotweed (Echo, March 9).

I hope whoever came up with the idea knows what they are doing. Sometimes in such situations the cure can be worse than the disease. Ask the Australians about the case of the cane toad.

I must admit that, nuisance though it doubtless is, I have a bit of a soft spot for the plant because I remember it growing thickly down the beck fields, where I used to play when I was a kid, next to the old gasworks here in Crook. The gasworks has long gone, but the knotweed is still there, as prominent and abundant as ever.

In fact, I remember previously writing to Hear All Sides about the plant (HAS, Sept 8, 2009) and its extraordinary ability to defeat all attempts at its extirpation.

Furthermore, I’ll have £100 on with anyone who likes a daft, long-term bet that the knotweed will still be thriving down by the beck in, say, two years time (longer if you want) despite the best efforts of the jumping plant louse.

Tony Kelly, Crook, Co Durham.