But for the fortuitous appearance of a hitherto unknown scale insect of the Eriococcus genus on manuka, in the Geraldine District of Canterbury in the mid 1930's, this paper may well have been titled "Manuka- the problem weed of the Hawkes Bay hill. country." We might have been telling of a losing battle fought on farms and stations against a persistent and relentless foe; of properties verging on bankruptcy and abandonment, because of the difficulty of securing. labour and finance for cutting and control.