Thoughts On Soil Fertility

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29192, 30 April 1960, Page 9

Thoughts On Soil Fertility

At the last Lincoln farmers’ conference, Mr W. C. Stafford, of Fairview, Timaru, focused new attention on soil fertility when he urged that more attention should be given to using fertility on farms today. Talking to a group of farmers in South Canterbury the other day Mr Stafford referred to some remarks made on this question of fertility by Professor J. W Calder, formerly professor of agricultural botany at Canterbury Agricultural College. “Fertility is a condition of the soil which enables the farmer to produce healthy crops and animals at a certain level,” writes the former Lincoln man who is now in England. “The level can bp regarded as a measure of fertility. The capacity to produce is the essential characteristic. It can be raised or lowered by various farm practices but each practice should maintain or establish a balance within each process of production and between the different processes of the farm system.

“The optimum level of fertility is reached when the farmers’ ‘income’ in cash and satisfaction meets his ‘expenditure* of cash and effort—both physical and mental. His knowledge of his land and of the behaviour of his crops and livestock guide him towards the objective of optimum fertility and it is for him to apply the findings of other practical experiences or of ‘new’ developments where he thinks they may increase his 'income’ or reduce his ‘expenditure.’ “I emphasise balance because with the increase in levels of production by unbalanced fertility various ills have arisen. Science has not yet determined what the balance is for the new level of production but has encouraged an upset of the natural balance. Perhaps in time, after many upsets, science may restore one unbalance and set up another. Progress is slow. Another quotation—‘be not the first by whpm the new are tried, nor yet the last to turn the old aside’.”