STERILISING BONE-DUST.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8162, 27 February 1905, Page 4

STERILISING BONE-DUST.

AX IMPORTANT SUGGESTION. Mr James CJ. Wilson, President of the Farmers' Union, sends the following interesting communication on the above subject to the editor of the New Zealand Times : — "There has been a great deal of discussion about, the Government sterilising works to treat imported bones and bone- , dust to kill the germs of anthrax which may be in them ; and 1 should like to show the cost of absolute prohibition. "The quantity imported as per Year 13ook in 1903 "(the latest information 1 have 011 the subject) is :— Value.

"Bones are not worth considering therefoie. The sources of our bone-dust are Australia and India, in both of which places anthrax has been a scourge. Only tlie other day the telegrams reported a serious outbreak in Queensland. The Ijoiics of tho dead animals lie sun-dried until collected and ground into bonedust and exported to us. Another source of phospnoric acid is Thomas' phosphate, the slag resulting from tne modern process of steel-making. As this phosphate is Iretra basic it contains a larger proportion of lime than bone-dust, but no nitrogen. Another source is imported superphosphate, which is made from mineral phosphate rock ground fine and treated with sulphuric acid to make it soluble, and therefore available as plant food. Another source we have is the refuse from freezing works, and for which there is a, constant demand. I have not sufficient data to ascertain the amount produced in the colony, possibly 5000 tons. TJie guano (not Peruvian, but island) is another source.

"In the unenumerated 18.613 tons., there should not be any bone-dust, but there may be; as the bone-dust is entered at about £5 a ton, and the unenumerated at about £3 15s, there is likely to be much ; but suppose that there is 12,000 tons in all, or £60,000 value.

"In the colony a valuable discovery has been made of a pocket of phosphatic rock, ii there is one such deposit there is most likely another, or possibly more. Already Mr Aston nas shown rocks with traces, and up to 5 per cent, phosphate have been sent to him for analysis. This known deposit is in private hands, and no one can blame them for making as much as they can out of it. If other phosphates go up. naturally theirs will 100.

"If the Government offered a bonus of £5000 for the discovery of a further deposit of sufficient, quantity, it would be h. small sum to pay for what would bo so vHluabli* in the growth of root and rape urnps. If the Government won't do it. ii would pay the farming community handsomely to give the reward, provided tlioy were able to come to sonic arrangement cither to purchase the land on which the rock was found or on the payment of a. small royalty to he able to quarry the rock, and have it treated for themselves.

"It is said that the Auckland province could not afford to stop the importation of hones. ]iut other manures, as I have snown, could bo substituted for bones, and where the risk is so great, even if a little more is paid for manures, it would only mean an insurance rate against disease.

"Thomas' phosphate, or basic slag, can lip iniportetl for about £4 IDs to £5, containing 35 to 38 per cent, of phosphate, ground to the necessary fineness. As it contains a great proportion of lime (50 per cent., I think) the land is benefited ..y its application. There is, therefore, only the difference of the small quantity of nitrogen which . is found in bones to make it equal to bone-dust. The same result would be obtained if a little dried blood was added (although not in such an available form), or some other mineral manure, such as nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia (a by-product from the gasworks) ; and by this means there would be no need to import bones at all. But the Government Analyst (Mr Aston) has show what is the true solution when in Ins reports he has urged the necessity of means being taken to discover — what is probably lying waiting to be used— a deposit of available phosphate rock. "As far as I am aware, Government has never said that sterilising works would not be erected; but if it has been so decided, then the expression of opinion from one end of the colony to the other should be given effect to— viz., the total prohibii.on of the importation of bones."

Bonos Hone-dust Uncnunieraled Guano 1 ons. 6 8.112 18,616 3,800 35 41.514 67,088 12,109