CONCERN EXPRESSED

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4813, 21 July 1939, Page 5

CONCERN EXPRESSED

FERTILISER STRIKE. WINTER AND SPRING TOPDRESSING. Concern is being expressed by farmers throughout the Waikato and Northern King Country at the continuance of the fertiliser strike in Auckland. Such an abnormal rush of orders was experienced during the autumn that the works were scarcely able to cope with the demand, while the position was accentuated through an insufficiency of railway trucks. Farmers who were unable to have their orders fulfilled during the autumn arranged for delivery during July and August, but it seems likely that the present strike will result in a further miscarriage of plans. There are other farmers, too, who include spring top-dressing in their fertilising programme, and any delay in obtaining deliveries must necessarily have adverse effects on production. Fertilisers must be applied just at the right time, commented a well-known farmer, and topdressing late in the spring would not be as beneficial as that applied earlier. Even if operations at the works were commenced within the next fortnight it would take a considerable time for the substantial leeway in manufacture to be made up.