THE FARM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 159, 7 July 1899, Page 3

THE FARM.

NITEATE OF SODA.

(From the "KZ. Farmer.")

This is a fertilizer whicli has come into extensive use of late years in Europe, and with most satisfactory results as regards profitable returns. Nitrogenous manures, of course, us we have frequently pointed out in theso columns, must be used with judgment and knowledge, or they will to a great extent be wasted, and may even do more harm than good to a crop. Nitrogen, unlike phosphates and potash, is easily lost from the soil through the medium of the drainage water if not immediately taken up by a growing crop, and therefore nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia, should only be applied in the spring, preferably as a top-dressing, to such crops as wheat or grass, when the plants are making a start at vigorous growth. It is also essential that the mineral elements of plant food are present in the soil in sufficient quantities to properly balance the effects of the nitrogenous manures, or the growth will be overluxuriant and unhealthy. But we need not here go in (to these matters in detail, as the principles to be observed in the use of nitrates were well set forth in the paper on 'Nitrogen' by Mr A. Taylor, published in our last month's issue. We would again draw the attention of our farming readers to the fact of the prohibitive price of nitrate of soda in New Zealand as compai-ed with its value in the United Kingdom. The best quality oil this fertilizer, 'guaranteed 95 per oent. pure, in bags,' was selling in Liverpool last March at £8 2/6 to £$ 5/ per ton. while in Auckland, we ben.ere, we axe correct in stating it cannot be bought at less than £14 10/ per ton, Mr G. L. Peacocke, as a memmev of the Executive Committee of the Auckland Agricultural Association, recently brought the matter under the notice of the Association, and suggested that the secretary should write to the Chilian Consul at Sydney asking if he could suggest any means by which nitrate of soda could be imported direct from Chili for the use of New Zealand agriculturists. This was done, and the Consul replied that if farmers here would guarantee to take 400 tons of nitrate between them he would be prepared to charter a vessel to bring over 800 tons, and would take his chance of disposing of the other half of the cargo. He stated that he thought he could say that under this arrangement he could lay the manure down in this colony at a price enabling it to be sold in retail quantities at between £ 8 and £ 9 per ton, or practically the same as the present English prices. This seems to us a very fair offer, and we should like to see our agricultural societies interesting themselves actively in the matter by again communicating with Mr , the Chilian Consul at Sydney, and arranging to take a certain quantity of a cargo of nitrate if he landed it here. This, of course, could only be done by the co-operation of individual farmers, who would engage each to take a certain quantity at a price not exceeding a certain sum per ton. There is one point worth noting- concerning nitrate of soda, and that is that as compared with other commercial fertilizers it is practically uniform in its composition. It has been found from a large number of analyses made that the samples all contained from 15 to 16 per cent, of nitrogen, or, in other words, from 95 to 97 per cent, of pure nitrate. We notice that last year in a number of aniAlyses made at the New Jersey (U.S.A.) Experiment Station there was one exception to this rule, a single sample being found to contain only 12 per cent, of nitrogen, not nitrate. A search through the official records of the Station showed that was the first sample that had shown so low a percentage of nitrogen. It is held amongst scientific experts that, as a rule, this fertilizer can be safely purchased without chemical examination. The most important matter for fanners to attend to is to obtain it at the least possible cost. The same remarks apply, we believe, to sulphate of ammonia, which, however, is not so widely used as a manure as nitrate of soda. In many soils in this country we feel convinced that, properly used, a nitrogenous fertilizer, such as this, would be found most beneficial, for our mild, wet seasons must naturally cause a great loss of nitrogen from the land through drainage.