THE SCIENCE OF MANURING.

Matamata Record, Volume III, Issue 203, 9 December 1920, Page 1

THE SCIENCE OF MANURING.

INSTRUCTOR’S ADVICE. The subject of manuring occupied practically the whole of the attention of the last meeting of the Putaruru branch of the Farmers’ Union. There was an attendance of about 40 members, over which the president, Mr. IT. W. Rid lock, presided. Mr. T. H. Patterson, chief oflicer of the Auckland branch of the Agricultural Department, was present by special invitation to give a lecture on manuring, and this he did in a most interesting and instructive manner. He stated that the Fertilisers Act in New Zealand was far behind the Fertilisers Acts of other countries, which provided for strict control by the authorities in the matter of the quality and price of manures. In these countries, particularly Australia and America, such measures as the publishing of the unit value of a manure and the barring of manures of low value were in force. It was desired that similar power should be given here. It was certainly thought that more power in the control of fertilisers should be given the Agricultural Department, which was the only intermediary body between the manure merchants and the farmers. Tn America, however, it was a committee representing the fertilisers trade and the farmers that determined the unit value of each manure and published it, so that the farmers should know what each manure was worth. There seemed no reason why a similar system should not be adopted in New Zealand. He stated that some fertilisers wore of doubtful value, and ho gave an instance of a sharp contrast between the use of a manure of well-known value, namely, lime and super, and the use of one of these manures of doubtful value. The case was that of a settler in the Tauranga district who used the first kind, while a relative and neighbour, a returned soldier, used the other. The first gave a good result, but the other gave no result. He (Mr. Paterson) investigated and found that this fertiliser was sold as a carbon--iron-lime mixture. Now, considering these three elements separately, the scientific reason for the poor result i from this manure could be seen. For instance, there was carbon. About 95 per cent of the dry portion of a plant was carbon, all of which, however, was taken in from the air, and so to put carbon on the soil was the same as trying to feed a man through his feet. Also, he could not say that iron was required by the soil in the Tauranga district, and other districts, so the lime was the only element in the manure that was of any use at all. The returned soldier reckoned his loss through using this manure at £2OO. Low-grade manures were not worth while, as they involved twice the cost in handling and freights to get the same value as that of high-grade manures. ELEMENTS IN THE SOIL. The main elements in the soil were potash, nitrogen, phosphorus and lime. The country such as that in the Putaruru district contained plenty of potash,, which was comprised in the pumice in the soil.

NITROGEN. Humus, such as dead leaves, decayed sticks, etc., represented nitrogen in the soil, and nitrogen was also put into the ground by such plants as lucerne, clover, lotus, wattle, broom, gorsc, etc., which, through the nodules on their roots, took nitrogen out of the air, and put it into the plant and the ground. Hydro-clcctric power could also be used to take the nitrogen from the air. The manure from animals fed on such crops as clover also put nitrogen into tlic soil, and thus the country in these parts, which was light, and required nitrogen, should improve year by year through the growing of clover, etc., the regular use of the chain harrows on the manure from the animals fed on these crops, and the ploughing in of the crops. Yellowish, stunted crops indicated a lack of nitrogen, as this clement gave a good green colour to the plant. In these parts it should be well worth while sowing nitrogen-pro-ducing plants with the crops, for example, vetches with oats (if oats were required for green feed), clover with oats, and clover with grass. If tlic oats were wanted with chaff for sale on open market, it might not be wise to mix another crop with them as the chaff would then be mixed with parts of this other crop.

PHOSPHORUS. In regard to phosphorus, the Dominion’s share in Nauru Island, one of the Pacific Islands from which phosphate rock was obtained, was important, it giving the Dominion a source of supply of phosphates. One New Zealand firm, he understood, now expected to put high-grade superphosphate manure (super) on the market almost at once at £7 per ton. In regard to the ground phosphate rock (Guano) it was found in America that if this was ground so finely that 95 per cent would pass through a mesh of 100 wires per lipcal inch, and it had some lime and a little super with it, it

would be efficacious on soil containing a fair portion of humus. However, on light soils, lie thought, it would not be good. Guano was not soluble in water. Super contained from 36 to 44 per cent of soluble phosphate. It would not do to put on .100 per cent soluble phosphate, as it would require to lie diluted. This manure was the quickest acting manure, for top-dress-ing, etc. Basic super was super plus about 15 per cent of lime or about 80 per cent of ground lime rock. Phosphorus and li.mc were the two elements which the soils in the Dominion needed mostly, and basic super thus contained both. A ton of lime per aero in the autumn and two to four cwt. of super in the spring might bo put down in lieu of basic super. In reply to Mr. D. D. Sneddon, the lecturer stated that super alone should be put on the grass paddocks here in one dressing per season. Two cwt. ol basic super per acre was a very light dressing. Basic slag of high grade was a good manure. LIME. The average deficiency of lime in the soils of this province was about three tons per acre, according to the analysis of 70 samples of soils from various parts of the country. In some parts there was sufficient limo in the soil. He related the case of one farm where i the soil in its natural state contained sufficient lime while the neighbouring farms required lime. Tlic amount required on any particular farm was thus a matter to be determined by analysing a sample of soil from that property. Tlic raising of young stock and the dried milk industry took a great deal of lime out of the soil, but returned practically none. However, nature had endowed this province with bountiful deposits of lime, from which supplies for agricultural purposes could : be drawn. In reply to Mr. .T. Dowd, Mr Paterson said it would be a wrong practice to plough lime in. MANURING FOR TURNIPS. For manuring for soft turnips, Mr. Paterson recommended a mixture of 50 per cent basic super and 50 per cent bone-dust, three cwt. per acre, and for swedes four cwt. of this mixture per acre. Ordinary super, be said, killed a lot of the seed of soft turnips, rape, swedes, mustard, etc. These recommendations for turnip manuring were based on experimnets made on light soil, namely, Matamata soil, and lie had seen similar country in tlic Putaruru district that day. In reply to Mr Sncddcn, the lecturer emphatically recommended ground lime as against burnt lime for this country, except for swamps. In no experiments carried out in America did burnt lime give better results than ground lime. In reply to Mr. W. 11. Barnett, Mr. Paterson said never mix manure containing blood or sulphate of ammonia with lime, as thereby a chemical action was set up which released the valuable elements in the mixture before it was put on the ground. A hearty vote of thanks by acclamation was accorded Mr Paterson for the lecture, and in reply,he thanked Mr. Bullock for an offer to establish experimental plots on the latter’s farm, Lichfield, to assist the work of the Agricultural Department, which offer, Mr. Paterson said, he would refer to the Department.

PURITY OF SEEDS. In reply to a communication from | the branch, asking that standards of purity and germination be insisted on for seeds sold to farmers, the meeting received a letter from the Hon. W. Nosworthy, Minister for Agriculture, stating that a Seeds Sale Control Bill had been in the hands of the law draftsman for some time, and, if possible, would be submitted to Parliament this session. It was resolved to thank the Minister for bis activity in this matter, and at the same time bring before him a resolution, moved by Mr. 11. A. Boyd, at the meeting, and experimental plots on the latter s carried unanimously, to the cficct that analysis sheets for manures should be issued by the vendor to the farmer at the date of the latter giving the order for the manure, the object of this being to protect the farmer against getting manure of other quality than that ordered by him; also that in the case of phosphoric manure insoluble in water, the fineness or grinding be entered on the analysis sheet.